Carl Hartung wrote:
On Friday 07 October 2005 06:47, Darryl Gregorash wrote: <snip>
They should get rid of the CDs too, as all those plastics factories are bad for the environment -- far worse, in fact, than cutting down a few trees.
"cutting down a few trees" is a poor attempt to gloss over the plain truth that hard copy books are manufactured goods requiring lots of raw materials, chemicals and energy to produce. I've waded through two feet of paper sludge working in the mills and can tell you the volumes of energy and chemicals consumed are enormous... almost beyond comprehension... just for the paper. I'm talking about banks of machines three to ten wide, each the height and width and length of a small freight train... only ten times louder (ear protectors, hard hats and safety goggles are mandatory)... and they run 24 x 7 x 365. The fumes are toxic and the exhaust never ends. This is just the *paper*.
Add to that all of the inks and staples and glues and the transporting of same plus the printing and binding equipment, all the energy they consume plus the parts and tools and chemicals needed to maintain them... it soon becomes apparent the issue is hugely bigger than just "cutting down a few trees."
Many years ago, I used to work across the tracks from a paper mill. The stuff in the air made it hard to breath at times and I'd often find little yellow spots on the car.