Today is World Book Day. Oh Happy Day, Oh Happy Day!
It is a day that UNESCO, in 2001, declared for ‘a celebration to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. Each year, on 23 April, celebrations take place all over the world to recognize the scope of books – a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures.’
Why specifically April 23rd? Well, it seems that it is the date on which prominent authors William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (Peruvian chronicler and writer) all died. A bit macabre, but well, there has to be some peg!
UNESCO and international organizations representing the three major sectors of the book industry – publishers, booksellers and libraries, select a World Book Capital each year. (New Delhi was the Book Capital in 2003, just two years after the concept came into being—looks like India had a stature and soft power even two decades ago!). The city of Strasbourg is UNESCO’s World Book Capital for 2024.
Book Days are usually marked with reading circles, events where people dress up as their favorite book characters, literary quizzes, book sales, author discussions, and various other innovative events to celebrate this most important of days.
The thought of book day prompted me to dig a little into a question that has been bothering me for a while. Are physical books more eco-friendly or e-books? Some research and calculations have been done, which say that:
‘.. one physical book has a climate impact of about 2.7kg CO2e*.’
‘And a Kindle e-reader has a climate impact of about 37.4kg CO2e per year.’ (Incidentally, text files are tiny, and the impact of downloading books is pretty close to negligible. The bulk of the e-book’s footprint is in the production and charging of the e-reader itself.)
‘So if you read 14 different books or more in one year, e-books have a lower footprint than physical books.
But if you only read a handful of books each year, physical books are the better option for you.’
(*CO2e: “Carbon dioxide equivalent” or “CO2e” is a term for describing different greenhouse gases in a common unit.)
As an educator, I want to children to read and read and read. And I would much prefer that they read physical books. Since 14 is a ridiculously low number of books to read per year, we need to find ways to make physical reading greener. Here are some tips for ‘greener’ reading—for kids and adults:
Use libraries: Not for very young children, but beyond the age of 8 or so, children can get their reading dose from libraries. Thanks to the Delhi Public Mobile Library and my school library (Carmel Convent, New Delhi), supplemented by neighbourhood lending libraries during summer vacations, we got more than enough books. (In fact, we were allowed to purchase only one book a month, so that was the bonus and used as leverage in book exchanges.) Even today, I don’t buy too many books. I receive a lot of books as gifts, and am a faithful subscriber to Just Books!
Used books: Pre-loved books are a great way to go. Shops like Blossoms in Bangalore have some of the greatest selections. And don’t hesitate to pass on books you have read to others who may find them of interest. Reach out to schools, colleges and educational institutions—they may welcome books you no longer have space for. You could also organize book-swaps.
Support green publishers: Buy books printedon 100% recycled paper, and create awareness about this aspect amonth other readers..
Happy Book Day! Happy Sustainable Reading!
–Meena
PS: The picture was taken ata library in Englands in the 1890s. The image is available at Getty’s Open Access Library.
Millennial Matriarchs 