Book influencers are popular on virtually all social media platforms—the biggest being TikTok, Instagram and YouTube—and one of the most popular content to create is a book haul. One YouTube video shows the unboxing of an Amazon purchase of over 40 books. While Amazon is not the place to support the book industry and authors, it is exciting that people are interested in purchasing books, supporting authors, and growing the reading community.
A book haul is entertaining to watch no doubt, but what happens to all these books after they’ve been read? Or not been read. At one point or another, books will be passed on from their original owners to friends, family, thrift stores, used bookstores, or the landfill. According to Words Rated, more than 160,000 truck loads of unread books are wasted each year and 10 million trees are wasted for the production of these unread books. Paper counts for 26% of landfill waste of landfills throughout the world.
Publishing a book is a gamble for any publisher or retailer. The publishing industry tends to print more books than they sell. In an ideal world, every book printed would go to a reader’s home collection, a public library or a school, but that’s not the case. It would be a more sustainable practice to print books on demand rather than an estimated number based on how well publishers think the book will sell.
When these books make it to retailers, whether Barnes and Noble or independent bookstores, there’s never complete certainty that all copies will be sold. Retailers can be left with an excess amount of book titles that didn’t sell. Not all retailers have the same method when it comes to this situation, but common practice is removing the covers as proof of the book not being sold as evidence in order to receive credit back for the unsold books. These coverless books then end up in the landfill, or go through pulping in order to try and recycle.
In one year, the United States uses 32 million trees to produce books. And that’s just one country. Beyond just paper, the ink used to print books pollutes the air, water and soil.
Unfortunately, the cost to sustainably print books is expensive, as many eco-friendly products and methods tend to be. Right now, it’s not feasible for publishing companies to switch over to fully using recyclable materials. The manufacturing technology for sustainable book printing is also difficult to come by.
It can be difficult and pricey to be a sustainable consumer—it’s easier and more accessible to go with the cheaper non-sustainable option rather than the pricey eco-friendly item that can’t be found at brick and mortar stores.
Even major book publishing companies cannot justify the pricey recycled paper over the traditional printing paper. There isn’t enough recycled paper available for mass book production yet.
In a quote from the University of North Georgia’s press, “For publishing to be truly culturally and environmentally sustainable, it must be an all-around effort from the publisher and consumer.” But it takes more than just consumers to practice sustainable reading—there are publishing companies taking steps to be as sustainable as possible and inspire other companies to do the same.
John Wiley and Sons, commonly known as Wiley, is carbon neutral certified, which means that the company can prove there is no increase in greenhouse gas commissions through their processes. They use 100% renewable energy to print materials.
Hatchette uses paper made from the Forest Stewardship Certified and Sustainable Forestry Initiative fibers, which ensures that the paper comes from forests that are responsibly managed and provide environmental benefits. Simon & Schuster also use paper from companies that are Forest Stewardship Certified, along with many other publishing companies.
Thankfully amidst the pressure to be completely sustainable in a world where it’s pricey and inaccessible for many, there are fairly simple ways to be a sustainable consumer of books without breaking the bank or changing much practice.
The digital world is a big asset in sustainable reading. Although the feeling of holding a physical book is unmatched, audiobooks and ebooks are very popular and accessible methods to consume sustainably, since they require no paper or ink. Audiobooks and ebooks are also easily acquired—many local libraries have subscriptions to services that offer these products for free with a library card.
In terms of physical books, used bookstores and libraries are the simplest way to be an eco-friendly physical book reader. These affordable resources can really help recycle mass book production and give the book a new home, or in the case of the library, a temporary one every couple of weeks.
Overconsumption of books is a very real thing and although books are harmless in comparison to other means of overconsumption, the urge to create a “personal library” and have wall-to-wall shelves of books is highly romanticized and promoted on social media.
Many readers have “auto-buy” authors or “auto-buy” series where the purchase of these books are not made consciously and are often bought immediately upon release. There are more ways to support authors and series than just buying the book, including being an active follower on social media, recommending their books to others and attending author events.
Ethical consumerism is a tricky game and will continue to be an internal dilemma as our world evolves. Reading material is just one small fraction of worldwide waste, but even a few little steps in a more sustainable direction can alter the course of where the future of book publishing and consumption is heading.
Sources:
Carbon Neutral Certification
FSC Certification
Barnes & Noble saved itself by putting books first. Imagine that (LA Times)
Environmental impact of printing inks and printing process
How Sustainable are Books? (UNG Press)
Paper Waste Facts
Book Depository: Amazon axes online bookseller as it cuts cost (CNN Business)
Amazon Publishing Statistics- WordsRated
