On August 19 Cleantech Group published a report that was supposed to put an end to an ongoing debate on the question if the Kindle and other e-readers are actually greener than physical books. The release’s title was “E-readers a win for carbon emissions.”

It was supposed to be the life cycle analysis many people, including myself were waiting for. I have to admit I was very excited to read about it as we follow this debate for a long time. I decided to read it and see if this is really it. If it’s really over.

The report, entitled ‘The Environmental Impact of Amazon’s Kindle’ was written by senior reporter Emma Ritch. I read the executive brief (7-page long) and was happy to find a well-written analysis that integrates many pieces of information that together create a more coherent picture. At the same time I wasn’t that sure about the validity of the findings.

There were two main issues that bothered me mostly: the carbon footprint of a single Kindle and the assumption about the number of e-books the average user is reading. As you’ll see these are important factors in the analysis and have significant influence on the findings.

Here are my thoughts about them in more details:

1. What’s the carbon footprint of a single Kindle?

This is an important part of the analysis - you can’t have a comparison between physical books and the Kindle without this figure. But fortunately the report has it: “…the second-generation Kindle represents the same emissions as 15 books bought in person or 30 purchased online. That would yield a range of between 60.2 to 306 kg of CO2, or an average of 167.78 kg of CO2 during its lifespan.”

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Consider the gift of a green book this Holiday season.

Ecobrain, a green publishing company offers ebooks, the ideal green reading choice.  Ebooks can be instantly downloaded to your desktop. Ecobrain has a series of ebooks that make ideal reading for Ecopreneurs.

The Next Sustainability Wave: Building Boardroom Buy-in, by Bob Willard ($16.95)

This book provides a compelling business case emphasizing the importance of how sustainability is presented to corporate leaders. It applies effective selling techniques to reposition sustainability strategies as a means to achieving existing corporate ends, rather than as a separate priority to worry about. It sells sustainability as a solution, a business strategy, and a catalyst for business transformation.

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I just got copies of the books yesterday, so have only had a chance to flip through them. Fortunately, they’re organized to make such flipping a useful activity: while either book could be read from cover to cover, the division of chapters in each makes it easy to find the exact information you want.  I particularly like the layout of Your Life, as it combines substantive sections on greening your home (inside and out) and lifestyle with short, self-explanatory tips set off in text boxes. My Office Handbook doesn’t just look at paper and energy use at work, but uses the framework of the typical workday: getting ready in the morning, traveling to work, and even eating lunch. The information I read looks solid, and I can definitely see the advantages (especially for “green newbies”) of having all of this information centralized in one place.

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EcoBrain is a digital publishing business that provides sustainability content while reducing their impact on the environment.

Acutely aware of the staggering production costs and environmental impact of traditional publishing, Angela Wieck and Staley Krause, two green living enthusiasts and earth-friendly role models for their children, conceptualized Ecobrain in April 2008.  Publishing is not an easy business but with Ecobrain’s eBook format, new publishers can produce and publish their material much more quickly, cheaply and profitably.

EcoBrain targets a LOHAS minded audience. As a family company they focus heavily on teachers, parents and teens, although they are open to various categories of content.

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But, of course, I also know that book publishing takes a fairly heavy environmental toll: as our friends at EcoLibris have pointed out, “more than 30 million trees are cut down annually for virgin paper used for the production of books sold in the U.S. alone.” The WorldWatch Institute notes that the average American uses over 300 kilograms (or over 660 pounds) of paper annually. And Erika Engelhaupt, in Environmental Science & Technology, observes:

Reducing paper use does more than save trees. Pulp and paper mills are also a major source of pollution. They release into the air CO2, nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), carbon monoxide, and particulates, which contribute to global warming, smog, acid rain, and respiratory problems. In addition, bleaching paper with chlorine can produce dioxin, which is known to cause cancer. Paper mills also produce large amounts of solid waste and require a lot of water. The industry is trying to clean up, but anyone who’s driven past a paper mill has smelled the challenge.

Yep, that book addiction has quite the footprint. There are numerous approaches to dealing with this impact: “cradle to cradle” book design, Ecolibris-style offsets, used of recycled and non-toxic materials, and, of course, ebooks.

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With global paper consumption increasing at a staggering rate, and forests disappearing overnight, our society really needs to look at ways to decrease our rate of consumption. One online company is focused on giving you an option when buying books for yourself or your kids.

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