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Rumpus Book ClubBooks Are Greener Than E-Readers
“One e-reader requires the extraction of 33 pounds of minerals. That includes trace amounts of exotic metals like columbite-tantalite, often mined in war-torn regions of Africa. But it’s mostly sand and gravel to build landfills; they hold all the waste from manufacturing wafer boards for the integrated circuits.
“An e-reader also requires 79 gallons of water to produce its batteries and printed wiring boards, and in refining metals like the gold used in trace quantities in the circuits.”
At The New York Times, provocative evidence that books made of paper are better for the planet than iPads, Kindles and other e-readers.
May 4th, 2010 at 5:04 am
A (1) e-reader to (1) book comparison is silly, no?
It should be (1) e-reader + (likely miniscule) eco impact of individual book downloads to however many books (50? 100? 1,000?) the average reader purchases digitally over the e-reader’s lifetime (rather than off the shelf).