Borrowing Books from the Library is Green

Remember classroom field trips to the library? Those were your most eco-friendly days of reading. So if you're still borrowing books as an adult, there's no reason to speak about it in hushed tones. You're helping to save paper, the enormous amounts of energy and water used to produce it-and a bunch of landfill space, to boot

Each year in the United States, 1.1 million tons of books are sent away with the garbage, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Of that total, only 0.5 percent are recovered for recycling. If you estimate that the average book weighs one pound, you'd figure that Americans throw away more than 2 billion books per year. When you borrow from the library, you're not only reusing a product but are also keeping that book from almost certain demise.

You'll also be indirectly helping to cut back on the amount of fossil fuels and water needed to create the paper from which books are made. And while the age-old question persists (paper or plastic?), there is still one kind of plastic that serves the environment: your library card.

To go a little greener: Check to see if your public library accepts book donations. Local branches will often have this information posted on their website. If not, you can donate gently used books to Friends of Libraries U.S.A., which in conjunction with Better World Books resells the volumes and donates books-along with a percentage of the profits-to literacy causes around the world. If you prefer to donate books directly, try Books for Africa, an organization affiliated with the United States Agency for International Development that collects and distributes donated volume to African children.