Binary or Bust

For a long time now I have been wondering about the green-ness of e-books. The basic concept is "look at how much paper we will save", but there is still the nagging thought that the e-reading device will create more damage to the environment in the long term, and I am sure there are people out there who have already tried to use this argument.

It is with some relief that I have read an article online from the Environmental Science and Technology journal that reaffirms my long held belief that e-readers are better for the environment.

It really boils down to this view quoted in the article from research done in to replacing university textbooks with e-readers.

over its life cycle, a paper textbook created 4 times the greenhouse gas emissions of an e-book reader and several times more ozone-depleting substances and chemicals associated with acid rain. Conventional books also required more than 3 times more raw materials and 78 times more water consumption than e-books.