With the topics of being environmentally conscious in the focus of discussion these days, we all try our best to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Small simple habits can make a big impact on taking care of mother earth and we are pretty sure you will be glad to do your part. Choosing recyclable carry bags, reducing the use of plastics, avoiding meats, cycling, and walking instead of using vehicles are some of the ways by which we play a part in supporting the environment. What if we told you that your reading can play a vital role in saving the environment? Would you believe us?
Experts estimate that about 4 million trees are cut down every year to print new books. That’s a large number, isn’t it? Imagine you could reduce the number of trees cut by reading preloved or second-hand books instead of buying a new one. Yes, this is possible. Let us further dwell on how pre-loved books help to save the environment.
◉ Second-hand shopping helps reduce waste
When we buy pre-loved or second-hand books we immediately reduce our waste in the environment. You give new life to a book every time you save it from being wasted. It takes a very long time for the material to get degraded, so instead of books being used as trash in landfills, keeping them in circulation as preloved books, is great for the environment.
◉ Saves trees
While paper can now be manufactured from other sources than trees, a considerable amount of production still happens through trees. Imagine the number of trees that get cut for producing books. We can save trees by recycling books and reading preloved books instead of buying new ones each time.
◉ Buying pre-loved instead of new reduces pollution
The production of every new book has a tremendous impact on the environment and pollutes it in some way or the other. Books are produced in factories which use natural resources as fuel. The factories may also give out some levels of pollution in the environment. By making use of preloved books we reduce these processes of manufacturing.
◉ Preloved books save energy
To produce books, we need a lot of energy to operate machines and factories. The use of coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear energy, or other kinds of energy sources goes into the process of manufacturing in some form or the other either directly or indirectly. Some of these sources of energy are not renewable. We need to save and preserve energy for generations to follow. Using preloved books is a step towards this conservation.
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◉ Saves water
It has been estimated that the environmental cost of producing books is very large. The newspaper and book publishing industries consume about 153 billion gallons of water each year, for producing books and newspapers. If we reduce the manufacturing by going in for preloved books we will do the environment a big help by saving precious water.
Consider switching to preloved books instead of going in for new books each time. After all the wisdom of a book remains the same irrespective of who is the owner. Several online book stores deal with preloved books. They insist the condition of the book is as good as a new book. So remember to keep preloved books in mind to do your part for the environment.
