Get Green? - Part 1
You probably already know our libraries are a good value, an invaluable community resource, and that they contribute a great deal to local economic development. Yet you may not consider us as a simple way to be eco-friendly, but we are.
If you take a moment to think about it, libraries are inherently green institutions. Instead of buying mountains of books, CDs, DVDs and magazines that you barely use, check materials out of the library. These materials are repeatedly reused and reduce the environmental impact as a result.
According to the Carnegie Mellon EIO-LCA database, for every million wholesale dollars of book printing, over 700 MT of CO2 equivalents are produced. We also find that 30 million trees are used to produce books sold in the U.S. each year. That’s one big carbon footprint.
Not to mention once an item is at your local library, it is local and thus reduces the amount of energy needed to transport them. The typical magazine, book or DVD travels hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles before it ends up in your hands. That's a lot of miles resulting in a tremendous amount of wasted fossil fuels and packaging.
Borrowing library books CDs, DVDs and magazines is not only a way to tread lightly on the planet, but will cut down on clutter. Let someone else worry about re-stacking the books you read neatly when you're done with them. Best of all, the service is free.
Keep an eye out for this series of blog posts on how libraries help preserve the earth. In the second post, we will discover the ecological advantages of using our electronic resources.
If you take a moment to think about it, libraries are inherently green institutions. Instead of buying mountains of books, CDs, DVDs and magazines that you barely use, check materials out of the library. These materials are repeatedly reused and reduce the environmental impact as a result.
According to the Carnegie Mellon EIO-LCA database, for every million wholesale dollars of book printing, over 700 MT of CO2 equivalents are produced. We also find that 30 million trees are used to produce books sold in the U.S. each year. That’s one big carbon footprint.
Not to mention once an item is at your local library, it is local and thus reduces the amount of energy needed to transport them. The typical magazine, book or DVD travels hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles before it ends up in your hands. That's a lot of miles resulting in a tremendous amount of wasted fossil fuels and packaging.
Borrowing library books CDs, DVDs and magazines is not only a way to tread lightly on the planet, but will cut down on clutter. Let someone else worry about re-stacking the books you read neatly when you're done with them. Best of all, the service is free.
Keep an eye out for this series of blog posts on how libraries help preserve the earth. In the second post, we will discover the ecological advantages of using our electronic resources.
Photo Credit:Jake & Bridget & Lucy & Carter
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