As I’m making my Christmas list this year, my thoughts turn to my book-reading habits. I generally purchase and read a few dozen books every year.  It occurred to me that if I purchased an Amazon KIndle that I could save a few trees.

 

But what about the environmental impact of making – an eventually disposing of – all those electronic components?  Am I helping the environment or hurting it by buying a Kindle?  I’ve been reading a lot of blogs on this topic and almost without exception they talk about saving trees and preventing landfill waste.

The paper used to make books comes from tree farms, not endangered species trees or wild trees, and a book in a landfill should decompose pretty quickly.

Kindle, on the other hand, is made of plastic, a petroleum by-product.  Given the internal components, we are definitely talking hazardous waste here.

 

I dunno.  Kindle or paper?