Technology - Eco-Libris

Let's say you love books (I do), but you also love trees (me too).

This presents a conundrum, because books are generally made out of trees. Even worse, most books are not made from recycled paper, but from virgin paper.

Deforestation is obviously a huge global problem. If you want scary stats, just browse Wikipedia, where you can learn that between 1990 and 2005, Nigeria lost 79% of its old growth forests.

How much does your reading habit contribute to the problem? Eco-Libris says that 20 million trees are cut down annually in the U.S. to make books.

If you're feeling guilty about your stack of bestsellers, you have a few options:

1) Increase your use of the library. Sharing books lowers the total number of books in circulation. Not great perhaps for authors or the publishing industry, but less wasteful and better for the environment.

2) Use BookSwim, a Netflix-like service that sends you a certain number of books per month through the mail. You pay a flat monthly fee with no late charges. Basically, BookSwim has all the ecological benefits of the library -- with the added advantage of saving you time and gasoline (presuming that you would otherwise drive to the library). Read our complete BookSwim review from June 13.

3) Switch from paper to an e-book reader like the new Amazon Kindle or the Sony Reader. No paper required - plus you can carry dozens of books without needing a wheelbarrow.

4) Plant some trees to offset the ones cut down to give you reading material. This is where Eco-Libris steps back into the picture. Just as some airlines are giving you the option of planting trees to offset the carbon emissions from your flight, Eco-Libris has partnered with various tree-planting organizations (Sustainable Harvest International, RIPPLE Africa and the Alliance for International Reforestation) to fight deforestation.

The cost per tree seems pretty reasonable - you can sponsor the planting of 10 trees for just $10. Economies of scale let you plant 500 trees for just $450 -- in case you want to offset a whole library...

Personally, this math seems a little fuzzy to me. I can't imagine that it takes an entire tree to make one book (even a huge book), but maybe the tree-planting offsets the carbon emissions that go into the production and distribution of the book.

If you want to combine the eco-benefits of tree planting with book-sharing, go right ahead. Eco-Libris has partnered with BookMooch, an online used-book exchange. Basically, BookMooch provides a framework for people all over the world to request certain books and to share books they've finished reading with others who might want them.

The advantage of BookMooch (as compared to BookSwim) is that you don't have to pay a monthly membership fee. The disadvantage (as far as I can tell) is that you'll still incur some costs associated with shipping your books to others, plus the site can't guarantee you'll find the book you're looking for.

Still, if you dig swap meets and you have the time to figure out BookMooch's points system, it might be a fun supplement to the library.

And if you do decide to go that right, you'd probably be jazzed to know that for every 10 trees you plant through Eco-Libris, you can get a free BookMooch point (which basically translates into a moochable book).

Like we said, it's a little complicated. But spend some time nosing around the Eco-Libris and the BookMooch websites and we're confident you'll figure it out. After all, if you care about these sorts of issues, you must be pretty book-smart!

Where to buy:
Contribute to reforestation directly through the Eco-Libris website. Sign up for an account at BookMooch to start mooching.