[LINK] Environment department used 30 sheets of paper per person per day

[Jan Whitaker]

At 09:06 AM 28/01/2009, you wrote:
>Elimimating waste is, of course, worthy, but one suspects that the
>environmental footprint of a netbook over its lifetime (3 years) is
>greater than 65 reams of plantation derived paper

This discussion came up in reference to ebooks in one of my writers 
email lists. I think we need hard numbers for this comparison. I did 
some looking into the batteries used on the kindle and found out they 
use the same lithium-poly batteries used in mobiles and are very 
efficient. The wireless connection uses them up, but otherwise they 
last about the same as a mobile phone. So that's the ongoing energy 
usage, at least in terms of power during use. Receipt of reading 
material is obviously higher usage.

Doesn't account for production of the devices, of course. One wonders 
about the real costs involved in paper production, delivery to the 
individual through transport, etc. and the greenhouse impact.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
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Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
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~Madeline L'Engle, writer

Writing Lesson #54:
Learn to love revision. Think of it as polishing the silver for 
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