For many students textbooks are one item that while a necessity,  can create quite a bit of scorn- high prices, low sell-back value, new editions coming out each year creating the dismal cycle all over again while making buying used increasingly difficult.  There are examples of textbook exchange programs that seek to minimize costs and recycle books matching up sellers and buyers online.

However, there are other alternatives, Amazon just released their Kindle digital reading device hoping to shore up the market on digital book reading. Another company, iChapters sells entire textbooks or simply the chapter you need individually in digital format. The company is also highlighting their dedication to the environment by planting a tree for every eBook and eChapter sold through a partnership with Paso Pacifico a non-profit organization.

Now, just so its clear that this isn’t a pitch for digital books or any company or product let me be clear that the concept is intriguing but could be difficult for me to fully embrace.  Personally, I have never read an entire book in digital form (I have sat down and read VERY lengthy essays/journals) but never something like a 350pg novel. I’m one of those readers that likes to read with a pencil in hand marking up the text, jotting down notes and basically making the book worthless for any poor soul who has to come after me and read it. I remember very distinctly flipping through used textbooks while in college looking for those that had not been scribbled over or highlighted because it was hard for me to read (even though I would do the exact same thing).

With that said, I see the obvious benefits of minimizing paper usage and think buying just one chapter at a time is pretty neat. Already, some professors require essays submitted electronically to cut down on paper use.  I’d be interested to hear what others in the higher ed sustainability community think. Are you willing to make the switch to all digital or have you already?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 10:52 pm and is filed under Campus Culture, Niles Barnes, Recycling & Waste Min.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.