This week a pupil in Year 7 asked me for ideas on great ways to both have fun and reduce our climate impact. Simple, it’s reading a book!
But not just any book, a second-hand or library book is by far the best type of book to read. It’s an ideal form of low carbon entertainment for a solo person.
Apparently, a typical new paperback has the equivalent emissions to 6 hours of TV or 1 to 2 miles of driving a standard petrol car so new books are pretty much off the list for me now.
A not-so-guilty pleasure
I adore books. I love the smell of a book, the sound of the crack of the spine as you open its pages, the artistic design on the cover and the warm feel of the paper.
Novels can ignite the imagination; you can lose yourself in magical places that you’ll never visit in reality. Even non-fiction provides me with a joy of learning that is difficult to mimic through reading an internet search or newspaper article.
In 2010, Google decided to determine how many unique books there were in the world since the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press in 1440. Using data from libraries, ISBNs, and more, they determined that the number is 129,864,880. That’s not the total number of actual copies which is far higher, that’s the number of different books you could have on your reading list. This will keep my micro-book club (solely containing my daughter and I) rather busy for the foreseeable future.
Old books are best
According to How Bad are Bananas, by Mike Berners-Lee, each new paperback that sells ~60% of copies printed has a CO2e of 1kg. The production and consumption of books have significant environmental implications.
The newspaper and book publishing industries consume a staggering 153 billion gallons of water each year. While some books find their way into recycling bins, others end up in landfills.
The paper used in books often comes from trees. Unsustainable logging practices contribute to deforestation, which affects ecosystems and biodiversity.
On a bright note, some publishers are taking steps to use certified sustainable paper. By choosing responsibly sourced materials, we can mitigate the impact on forests. Borrowing from libraries or swapping books with friends simply decreases the environmental impact per book read. A well-read eBook might just about pay off providing it’s charged with renewable energy and is repeatedly used.
When I was a child, the library was a place of wonder. Unfortunately, hundreds of communities have now lost their libraries through funding cuts – they might not all be on the critically endangered list, but they need support otherwise we might lose these precious resources entirely. They now also provide the benefit of a warm place to stay when the weather becomes cold. Libraries can literally be life savers.
In school I encourage my pupils to appreciate the wonder of books while being mindful of their environmental impact. Our school library is not just for bookish kids. It’s a safe haven of peace and tranquillity in the noisy classrooms and crowded chaos of the corridor. We have an excellent librarian, Ms P, who encourages reading-refusers and challenges those who say they’ve already read everything.
Dewey Decimal System
Hubster has collected so many second-hand books on smallholdings and nature, from bees, butterflies and biochar to water, woodland, and warblers that our shelves are starting to buckle under the weight.
Rather than shedding any precious, and often irreplaceable magnificent tomes, he is considering creating a library shed, where he can organise, all texts using the Dewey Decimal System. This will give him immense satisfaction and make space in our shelves in the house.
If we think about the possibility of social collapse leading to the breakdown of the internet, then old-fashioned books are vital for containing the knowledge we need to redevelop resilient communities – I really shouldn’t read books like ‘The Knowledge – How to Rebuild our World after an Apocalypse’’ by Lewis Darnell just before bedtime!
Swap shop
As every page turned is an opportunity to learn, grow, and make a positive impact, my marvellous Eco Committee felt like the right thing to do was to organise a book swap at school.
We held it on the schoolyard and hid books around the school. Pupils could find a book, or bring in their own, and then come to the swap shop. A few of the books were not considered particularly age appropriate; some young tyke brought in an unread copy of Ten Years to Save the West by Liz Truss to swap.
Let’s hope the book run was short, a hardback has an average carbon emission of 2.7kg CO2e. Truss’s book about her exceedingly short stint as prime minister only sold 2,228 copies in the UK during its first week on sale, despite a wall-to-wall promotional media blitz. A slight silver lining is that many copies of glossy hard backs get pulped without ever reaching a bookshop and turned into toilet paper.
To quote Greta’s book, “no one is too small to make a difference” but, unfortunately, some of the people in power and politics are so big they can cause environmental or economic catastrophes simply using a couple of taps on a keyboard or the flourish of a signature. We extended the book swap into the staffroom and Mrs D, the RE teacher, brought in a preloved copy of ‘50 Shades’ leading to considerable giggles over lunch.
Note to self: Lend our HT my copy of Leadership for Sustainability, Saving the Planet One School at a Time – even in our fabulous school there really is so much more we can do. Oh, and remember to take 50 Shades from my work bag… it’s about time I read what all the fuss was about!
