"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets."
- Edward Abbey
The wave of the future in books is the rapid expansion and use of electronic Books (eBooks). Environmental issues are raised with these electromechanical gadgets produced mostly of plastic. However, further research into production of plastic reveals that it is merely a byproduct of North America's dependency on oil--as long as you are driving that gas-guzzling hunk of Detroit metal. The ingredients for plastic have already been ripped from mother earth to feed your need to get there faster than your own two legs will carry you.
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| Oil Rig on the edge of Canyonlands NP |
In 1979 the annual volume of plastics produced exceeded the volume of steel that was manufactured. The annual volume of plastics produced tripled during the period of 1940 to 1945, due to the wartime demand for products. Plastics are essentially a byproduct of petroleum refining.
So as long as we are using petroleum products for energy, plastic will be available without further destruction of the environment, specifically for the production of plastic.
As with all materials, there are environmental costs and benefits associated with the use of plastics. Plastics replace natural materials, including ivory and wood. Synthetic fibers also provide a substitute for cotton, a water- and energy-intensive crop. The use of plastic materials in cars and airplanes reduces their weight and therefore increases their fuel efficiency. The insulating capacity of plastics such as styrofoam reduce the amount of energy required to heat and cool homes.
One of the most significant environmental problems associated with plastics is the improper disposal of plastic goods by consumers. The use of plastics has enabled the development of innumerable disposable products, which has increased the amount of trash that is disposed. Although paper accounts for most of the trash in landfills by volume, plastics account for 25% of all waste in landfills when buried.
A significant amount of plastic, however, is not properly disposed in landfills and makes its way into the environment. Plastic does not biodegrade quickly which means it remains in the environment for a very long time. Plastic trash has made its way to coastal ecosystems and the ocean, presenting a danger to marine and birdlife.
For my money, the eBook seems the best environmental way to go, and it also makes it easier to carry my library into the field. Research materials, birding books, plant identification, first aid...all of it able to fill the space of my old copy of
The Monkey Wrench Gang or
Ecodefense: A Field Guide to Monkeywrenching (I'll have to go look to see if that is on Kindle).
Birds: 110 mile training toss this last weekend...still have two birds in the Beaver I-race...34th and 76th...beat out by my partner whose bird was 32nd.
Honey: This weekend I will be bottling the Backyard Blonde and cleaning the carboy to start a new batch of Mead that will be ready in March, and with any luck will last us through the summer.
Another point of interest found in the news today, even the United Nations is becoming active in combatting losses in the plant and animal world due to human-caused environmental issues. They say we are facing the worst extinction rate in the last 65 million years, since the dinosaurs were here. Nations and business are prompted to take increased steps to protect and restore ecosystems. (Unfortunely, some cannot be brought back...my example, Glen Canyon.)
