I just read an interesting article in the New York Times, How Green Is My iPad?, By DANIEL GOLEMAN and GREGORY NORRIS. In the article, Daniel and Gregory compare the greenness of a traditional hardcover book to Apple's new iPad. The conclusion? The bound book wins the short game. You need to read 40-100 books on your e-reader to break even.
They analyzed a typical book. What if you built a book deliberately trying to minimize its impact on the environment? There are many earth friendly bindery options available that can directly reduce your eco impact AND help your book stand the test of time.
Binders Board:
Did you know that binders board is made completely of recycled material? In fact, much of it is PCW (post consumer waste)coming directly from your curbside bin. That book you just bought could contain last month's Wall Street Journal or an old Wheaties box. It doesn't get much greener than that!
Book Cloth:
Covering a book in book cloth adds to its usable life. Plus, many LBS cloth cover materials are woven from renewable cotton and lightly starched or coated with a water-based inert coating. If you really want to go green, consider Cot-Linen book cloth. It's a 100% cotton / linen blend woven into a cloth that's never dyed, bleached or coated. Talk about reducing your impact.
Endsheets:
As with book cloth, a quality endsheet adds to the usable life of your book. LBS manufactures endsheets using only high quality endleaf paper. FSC certified endleaf and papers with recycled content are also available.
Reinforcing Material & Case Liners
Choosing reinforcing materials for their performance characteristics ensures the stability of your bindings. That doesn't mean that you have to ignore your environmental concerns. LBS offers many spine liners woven from renewable cotton or manufactured from 100% recycled material. All LBS caseliners are 100% recycled and recyclable.
Ultimately, binding a quality book that will last a lifetime saves energy and material resources and is the best thing you can do for the environment.
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