You use your phone, computer, Ipod, or increasingly, your iPhone or Amazon Kindle to get news, check stocks, look at the weather, to buy and listen to music, read or listen to books and magazines, and any number of other functions that at one time, were chiefly available in paper formats, if at all. Some, like the iPhone, can bring you the entire internet.
You can do these things when and where you want, provided that you have remembered to charge your device, you remembered not to leave it on the seat next to you on the train (drats!), and you have paid your bills for the services on time.
They Use Electricity, however…
Sure, these gadgets, and let us not forget the television and radio, as they have not yet gone to the wayside, are all using electricity. But while they are using electricity, which is still, in most cases, the result of a carbon-intensive production process, water and chemicals are used in the production of paper, not to mention the trees that are cut down for the purpose.
According to this AboutMyPlanet article, regarding newspapers’ impact on the environment,
Nearly four billion trees worldwide are cut down annually for paper alone, representing about 35% of all harvested trees. However, many of the trees used for paper come from tree farms, which are planted and replenished solely for that purpose.
And further,
The U.S. Toxic Release Inventory report released by the EPA states that pulp and paper mills are among the worst polluters to air, water and land of any industry in the country.
Again, yes, while these gadgets bringing evermore news and information to our fingertips at a faster pace, still do cause pollution by demanding more electricity, making and even recycling paper is a carbon-, chemical-, and overall environmentally-demanding process.
Production and Life-cycle of Newspapers
Making newspapers and having people read/use them is difficult to turn into an envirohumanly friendly process, even when it is recycled and bleached without the use of chlorine. Printing presses use electricity to print the newspapers and trucks haul them away for distribution. After a user is finished with his or her paper, it is hauled away by a truck, whether it is headed to a recycling facility or dump.
So, If You Haven’t Already…
Dump your newspaper subscription. You can get much more current news from free online versions of several newspapers, cable news sources, and blogs (like this one!) using a desktop or laptop computer, Iphone, Amazon Kindle, or other such device, without the paper waste.
You’ll be using more electricity personally for reading your news, but you can tailor your experience to your specific interests, there’s much more for you to read if you should want or have the time to kill, and you do not have to buy the whole paper, which, let’s face it, (for most of us) contains a lot of stuff in which we simply are not interested.
Devices Will Be Greener
For these reason, we urge you to consider dumping your newspaper subscription (as if you still have one!). One last thought: paper is likely to continue to come from trees and recycled sources, and the massively polluting aspects listed above are unlikely to change. But remember that electricity should undergo a major change in the coming years: hopefully we move to carbon-free electricity! And don’t forget that manufacturers are looking at ways in which they also can make devices even more energy efficient.
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July 23rd, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Let’s just dump mainstream media all together. Blogs like yours and mine are going to bring us more and more information and sites like Newsvine will bring us our news. In either case, I feel printed information will go by the wayside soon as electronic media becomes easier on the eyes. Why pay for something you can get for “free” online, especially considering the online media is update-able, comment-able, and share-able.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:52 am
[...] argues that people should give up the printed newspaper in favor of more technological forms. Not only can this save money, but it can reduce the [...]
July 30th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I work as a reporter at a newspaper that has a very active on-line presence with products such as my blog.
Even though there is an e-edition version of our newspaper available by subscription, we have noticed very clearly that there are two distinct audiences: print and on-line.
We are currently running a survey with our print subscription bills, and the survey asks if they read print, on line or both.
Many, many of these surveys are coming back with “print only” check boxes, some of them with these remarks:
“Don’t have a computer.”
“Can’t afford a computer.”
“Please remember that not everyone has a computer!”
July 30th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Good points from “Monroe on a budget.”
I’m not saying that mainstream media, old media, or print media (newspapers, in particular) are outdated no longer useful. When television came along, it was supposed to be the end of the radio, but look at its staying power, even when the Walkman, Discman, and Ipod all came along.
As you correctly point out, newspapers, both large and small, have had to build online presences, often read by two different audiences.
I’m highly in favor of a well-informed public and agree with your readers that the print newspaper still serves a purpose.
All I am saying here is that those who might have an I-phone or other method of reading a non-print newspaper, should consider doing so. You bring up great points and I appreciate you bringing them to the discussion.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:48 am
[...] asks- should we give up the newspaper for an [...]
February 14th, 2009 at 4:19 am
Just came across your blog on Google. Interesting post, you bring up a few good things to think about. Good luck with the blog.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:51 am
Very informative! Great post!
May 23rd, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Thank you very much! It’s going to be interesting as our media remakes itself in the form of independent journalists coupled with blogs, online news, and sure, some old media forms. Also, look out for the Amazon Kindle for more development in cheap ways to get your media.