Rent a Textbook, Plant a Tree, and Save Some Pulp

As sustainability becomes a popular lifestyle choice for millennials and other upcoming generations, and belt tightening a way of life for all but the most wealthy; renting text books is a great option. It is helpful on many levels. The current front runner in nationwide text book renting is Chegg. Chegg http://www.chegg.com/ is a reliable site with a wide range of both undergraduate and graduate text books; and they plant a tree for each book rented! Here are just a few ways that renting text books is helpful:

1. Keeps books from being overprinted. The simple law of supply and demand, book swaps and book sharing in time will reduce the demand for so many copies. Northwest Missouri State has decided to go electronic with their text books! If every University did this imagine how many forest would be saved.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99961163

2. Keeps books out of landfills. Landfill space is at a premium, space needs to remain free for things that have no other disposal alternatives such as medical waste. Look to Naples to see what life is like without adequate landfill space. http://www.newsweek.com/id/93300

3. Keeps unnecessary books out of personal libraries. There are some text books that y are useful to reference or to keep for sentimental reasons, but many are just books with no value beyond the class. If spaces are not filled with material clutter maybe people will become more content living in smaller spaces. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the average home size in the United States was 2,330 square feet in 2004, up from 1,400 square feet in 1970.

4. Saves students money. The savings can be significant on average over $100 per semester can be saved by renting books verses buying them; renters always retain the option to purchase the books they rent.

5. Be responsible. The Dynamics of Mass Communication the book used for a masters level public relations class at Webster University was printed in China, and transported to the United States. The acid free #45 paper they used was not made in China and who knows where the trees came from that made the pulp to make the paper. It was not made from recycled paper (but it is recyclable), so imagine the benefit of 1000 fewer copies of this book alone.

Every choice and decision made makes a difference. Human Sustainability is the name this concept has been given. Ponder those words for a moment... I like the ideas of sustained human life (and humanity if possible) into the future. Primum Non Nocere. (Above all, do no harm).