An Outlook

The occasion of this, the Peninsula Pulse’s second annual Sustainability Issue, comes just a few weeks after my much discussed (if not universally celebrated) birthday. So, it probably doesn’t surprise anyone that I have been spending some time reflecting on my years of interaction with this planet.

It may still seem strange to some to talk about my – or your – interaction with the planet, but as the world’s population has expanded, as America (and other western countries) began to develop “planned obsolescence” as a significant portion of the consumer economics, and as threats to our environment began to tangibly threaten our existence, more and more individuals have begun to think seriously about their impact on our planet.

Calculating your personal “carbon imprint” is now available to anyone with access to the Internet. Hybrid cars are more prevalent on our roadways. Solar panels on homes or businesses are no longer viewed as rarities; they simply strike us as smart. And still we have a long way to go.

I remember riding my sting-ray bicycle around the streets and alleys of Fairfield, Iowa searching for discarded glass soda bottles that I could take to the small neighborhood grocery across the street from my school where they were exchanged for nickels that I, in turn, used to buy candy. I can’t remember when, exactly, returnable glass bottles disappeared in favor of non-returnable glass bottles and ultimately plastic “bottles” that we simply threw out with the trash.

Recycling wasn’t talked about until the 1970s, and then, it was only aluminum cans and newspapers that were recyclable. Along with some friends in the neighborhood I began to collect cans for recycling. My little sister, Alison, started her own recycling newsletter that she wrote out by hand to distribute in the neighborhood.

Shortly after I passed my drivers exam and received my license, the Iran hostage crisis came about and America was suddenly in an energy shortage. With gas being rationed our speed limits were lowered and gas mileage became critical to everyone’s thinking.

All of these things shaped me into a compulsive recycler. Any paper with a blank side is used in my house and my store, and when they are full, they go into the recycling. Every bottle, every plastic container finds their way into recycling if possible. I have a compost heap at the back of my property. And…well you get the idea.

So with this in mind let me focus for a moment on books. Books have surrounded me throughout my life and for most of my working life I have been a bookseller. My grandmother was a librarian, my grandfather was a printer, my father was a professor and writer, my mother was a teacher and journalist, and thus books have been, and remain, a constant throughout every year of my life.

Two weeks ago the Book Industry Study Group and the Green Press Initiative coordinated a study (entitled “Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings from the U.S. Book Industry”) that determined the U.S. publishing industry emits over 12.4 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. This translates to approximately 8.85 pounds per book. The chief factor in this carbon footprint is, not surprisingly, the cutting of trees for paper, although the study noted that the use of recycled paper and fibers has steadily increased over the last several years. The publishing industry is currently in the process of looking at ways to improve this carbon imprint industry wide.

(NOTE: As an interesting aside, an “average” tree only provides about a three-foot tall pile of newsprint. This gives you some idea of the number of trees required to produce our paper.)

Many authors have taken it upon themselves to address the carbon imprint of their books. Some assess themselves a “tree tax” of 25 cents per book printed, to plant replacements for the biomass that was harvested to produce their books. Unfortunately this “tree tax” is largely confined to those authors that write perennial best-sellers and/or authors with a heightened sense of conservation. Fledgling authors, those with considerably smaller press runs of their books typically cannot afford the self-imposed tax.

Then there are authors like David Blume, a leading authority on alcohol-based fuels who authored the book Alcohol Can Be a Gas. For the latest edition of his book, Blume planted an acre of high-value, fast-growing hardwood trees. He tended these trees and then transplanted them to permanent locations on swales where he will remain responsible for them until maturity.

As Blume notes, “when tropical rainforests are cut down, the loggers use only one or two trees per acre for lumber, and the rest get bulldozed into a pile and burned. By planting 400 high-values trees per acre, I am effectively replacing what would be taken from 200 – 400 acres of rainforest.”

I’ll be following developments in the publishing industry closely, but I am encouraged by the industry beginning to address the environmental issues they (and we) face. For my own part, I’ve begun making extensive use of recycled bags in my store and encourage shoppers, whenever feasible, to bypass the use of a bag.

Small steps to be sure, but all steps are important.