I love to read and I know many of you here on steemit do too.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of settling down after a long day, relaxing in bed or your favourite comfy spot and opening the pages of that book that screamed "read me". I often wonder what impact the production of new books has on the environment though. For that reason, most of my book collection is on Kindle. If I can't get it on Kindle I will try to find it used.
Amazon is a really good source for this. You can pretty much find a used version of any book there. Particularly handy when you live in another country and can't find books in your native language.
There are also other online used book sellers.

Another benefit of reading from a digital device is there is no need for a light. The settings can also be adjusted to avoid the problems that come with blue light. There's a night mode, blue light reducer, brightness adjuster. All these can help combat the problems associated with sleep deprivation from using digital devices.

Why it's important to reuse or go digital with your books.

This is the part where I slap some statistics in front of you. So here goes:

• 15 Billion trees are cut down each year for paper
• The book industry consumes over 1 million tons of paper each year.
• The world consumes more than 300 million tons of paper each year
• Paper manufacturing plants release hazardous chemicals such as chlorine dioxide, formaldehyde and methanol into the air and waterways.

Another, less known fact is that tree farming, although justifies reduction in deforestation, actually adversely affects biodiversity and contributes to soil erosion. This is due to the combination of lack of biodiversity from the trees being harvested at such a young age. This prevents the soil around from gaining nutrients as it lacks the flora and animal life to be able to create the micronutrients that enrich the soil. The long term effect of this is that the land where these trees are farmed will eventually be unable to sustain them.

Alternative ways to make paper

Some paper manufacturers make conscious choices to use alternative plant and vegetation to make paper.

Plants that make great paper alternatives to wood are hemp, bamboo, flax, wheat and straw. These plants have fibrous material that is equally good at producing pulp to make paper.

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Recycling paper, reclaimed wood and waste wood products from the production of timber are all viable ways to reduce the number of trees felled each year for paper production.

Eco-Conscious Book Publishers

The Greenpress Initiative has been working with publishers over the last 10 years to encourage them to include recycled and sustainable paper and reduce the amount of virgin paper used to produce books. There is a Treatise in place that a number of publishers have signed. They have a leadership council and below is a list of the publishers who are members of this.

• Baker Publishing Group

• Chronicle Books

• Continuum Publishing

• Dirigo Paper Company

• Green Press Initiative

• Harvard University Press

• Lantern Books

• New Leaf Paper

• Square One Publishers

• Thomson-Shore Book Manufacturing

Sources:
Nature.com
WWF
The Green Press Initiative

How do you read your books? What alternatives and improvements do you think can be made in the book industry to reduce the impact of deforestation on our beautiful planet.

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