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More and more forests are deforested for books. Electricity can be green (it is not at the moment) but eventually we will be there. I think it makes sense to us

More and more forests are deforested for books. Electricity can be green (it is not at the moment) but eventually we will be there. I think it makes sense to use an electronic device rather than using a paperback book. Plastics are cruel, but at the very least we can ask the manufacturers to use something else and those devices mostly don't end up in the trash day 1. We definitely need to find a way but papers are even more cruel. But again that is subjective.

TeMPOraL 7y ago
> More and more forests are deforested for books. [citation needed] More and more forests are deforested for agriculture - for both growing plants and pastures for animals. Paper production is a combination of forest-sourced trees, but also recycled paper, wood waste from other industries, and trees planted specifically for paper manufacturing. I get conflicting breakdowns of the proportions, but a random source[0] I'm looking at says something like this: "However, 39 percent of the fiber used for papermaking comes from recycled paper. Most of the remaining wood is obtained either through forest thinning (removing slow-growing or defective trees) or from lumber milling residues – materials that otherwise would go unused. Only 36 percent of timber harvested in the United States is used directly to make paper and paperboard." That's not to say we shouldn't reduce our paper use, but I wouldn't sweat it too much when it comes to buying that book (especially if it's print-on-demand), or printing that article or code listing. Paper is a ridiculously powerful cognitive and productivity multiplier, still unmatched by digital solutions. I'd argue that paper use might be essential for humanity figuring their way out of this crisis. If you want to cut down on wasteful paper use, fight advertising. The subsection of the industry dealing with physical advertisements is literally one giant machine for moving cellulose from trees into landfills. -- [0] - https://theconversation.com/is-the-paper-industry-getting-greener-5-questions-answered-76274 https://theconversation.com/is-the-paper-industry-getting-gr...

TeMPOraL 7y ago

> More and more forests are deforested for books. [citation needed] More and more forests are deforested for agriculture - for both growing plants and pastures for animals. Paper production is a combination of forest-sourced trees, but also recycled paper, wood waste from other industries, and trees planted specifically for paper manufacturing. I get conflicting breakdowns of the proportions, but a random source[0] I'm looking at says something like this: "However, 39 percent of the fiber used for papermaking comes from recycled paper. Most of the remaining wood is obtained either through forest thinning (removing slow-growing or defective trees) or from lumber milling residues – materials that otherwise would go unused. Only 36 percent of timber harvested in the United States is used directly to make paper and paperboard." That's not to say we shouldn't reduce our paper use, but I wouldn't sweat it too much when it comes to buying that book (especially if it's print-on-demand), or printing that article or code listing. Paper is a ridiculously powerful cognitive and productivity multiplier, still unmatched by digital solutions. I'd argue that paper use might be essential for humanity figuring their way out of this crisis. If you want to cut down on wasteful paper use, fight advertising. The subsection of the industry dealing with physical advertisements is literally one giant machine for moving cellulose from trees into landfills. -- [0] - https://theconversation.com/is-the-paper-industry-getting-greener-5-questions-answered-76274 https://theconversation.com/is-the-paper-industry-getting-gr...