Development Research Blog

  To acknowledge the writer’s stance on this subject is to appreciate the variables within the information and how delicately the favour can change within either side. The argument of E-readers vs Books is one that could be skewed in favour of the other dependant on the information presented; an article written by Carla Delgado (2022) for popular science, displays a series of studies that all discovered a varying degree of results on how many books it would take to offset and e-readers carbon footprint. The key aspect is that each one has different variables it takes into consideration, but this becomes defining as a notion that the carbon footprint can be offset. To give a specific view of how this approach will dictate the final product there is a study done by The Hedgehog Company, who are self described as a company that guides organisations towards sustainability, they determined that over the course of a five year period, if a reader were to read more than 25 books that person could become more environmentally friendly by doing so through the use of an e-reader. (2021) The conditions of this study involved a single e-reader vs 120 books that were disposed of and recycled at the end; the e-reader was disposed of after the five year process and the results were displayed in a chart of the environmental impact of each. This was done in an ideal scenario but does not incorporate the factors of how in an average situation a book could not be recycled, or even thrown out in the first place. It also does not claim any acknowledgement of how a user may upgrade their E-reader quicker than a five year period.
The extent of how environmental impact is broken down into multiple categories
To acknowledge that there can be such a swing in favourship over which produce is more beneficial it is important to promote the idea of responsible use; which in the favour of E-readers is that of the lifespan and subsequent upgrade capabilities that are present. Although there is no specific guarantee as to how long these devices can last, there is general consensus through personal opinions on various reviews that would suggest that most if not all devices can last upwards of five plus years; this information is limited until an official body can discover its true relevance, so should be taken with caution.With this information in mind it becomes clear that the purpose of this animation is not particularly to convince people to switch to e-readers, but more so to promote responsible use while urging a particular group of target people to consider switching to gain more environmental consciousness. The most recent specific data available is a Yougov survey which states that the average person in the United Kingdom (UK) reads about 10 books a year. (Yougov 2014) with this in mind comparatively to the information provided by the Hedgehog Company then this animation’s target animation could be aimed towards the general public. This overall, is far too broad so to narrow it down there will be a specific focus on those that are avid book readers, the top consumers of the hobby. Rather than acknowledging organisations and corporate bodies, the true hobbyists are the ones to be persuaded. Overall the message needs to be clear that responsibility is the key message when approaching any attempt to be more environmentally conscious.
This highlights the average persons reading habits, although a few years out of date

References

Author Unknown (2021) “Eco-friendly reading: paper books versus the e-reader.

What would be better for the environment: reading a paper book or reading books on an e-reader? Read this example of a life cycle assessment comparison.” Hedgehog Company. Available Online [Accessed 20/02/2024]

 

Delgado, C (2022) “You may need to read dozens of books each year to offset that new e-reader” Popular Science. Available Online [Accessed 20/02/2024]

 

YouGov (2014) YouGov survey Results. YouGov. Available Online. https://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/2epvuor52x/YG-Archive-140401-Reading.pdf