The 20-Minute Environmenalist: Tips for Eco-Friendly Reading and News

The production and printing of newspapers, books, magazines and periodicals wreaks havoc on the environment through excessive use of trees, water, energy and transportation. Even the busiest folks can take steps to limit the impact their reading materials have on the environment, all while reading to their heart's content.

You can still enjoy catching up on the news while drinking your morning coffee, or curling up with a good book on a rainy day, all while limiting your part in deforestation and global warming. Save trees, water and energy while you catch up on your reading with these easy, quick eco-friendly tips.

1. Swap books on book exchange websites - Rather than purchasing new books at the bookstore, save money and time by swapping books you've read for books that are new to you. Swaptree is my favorite swapping website and it took me less than 20 minutes to figure out how the site works and to list my books to trade using their super simple ISBN input system. Rather than driving to the bookstore and browsing the aisles, browse the extensive list of available titles on the website and mark the ones you are interested in trading for. When someone that has the item you want marks that they want the item you have, a trade relationship blossoms and you both end up with new reading material without contributing to the demand for the water, energy, transportation and trees it would take to make the books if you purchased them new.
2. Switch to e-books and carry your entire library with you wherever you go -Even better than exchanging used print books is not purchasing print books at all.Shop online and buy e-books to avoid the environmental impact of printing paper books, transporting them to a store or warehouse, driving to the bookstore or having a book shipped to you. E-books usually are less expensive and they are highly portable - you could, quite literally, carry 100 or more e-books with you everywhere you go. It will take you less time to browse online and select your titles than it would to drive to a bookstore and scour the aisles or to wait for a book to be shipped to you.
3. Recycle old newspapers, periodicals and magazines - Take20 minutes to go through the newspapers, periodicals and magazines that you have lying around the house. Check the living room, the bathroom, the garage, the basement, the den and anywhere else they might be hiding and toss them in the recycle bin, reuse them for crafts or home projects, or - in the case of magazines and periodicals - donate them to local groups. Having old newspapers and magazines around clutters up your environment and can promote the growth of unhealthy molds. The longer you keep them, the more likely it is that they will get wet and/or nasty and the more likely you will be to toss them in the trash instead of the recycling bin. So, take the time now to recycle them and allow them to have a new life as some other paper product, rather than ending up in a landfill.
4. Get the news you want right in your inbox - Pick your favorite sites - your local newspaper, CNN, etc. - and subscribe to receive emails or an RSS feed with all the news you could ever want. You can even choose topics that interest you and only receive headlines that you actually want to read. Using this option will save you the time it would take to scan a print newspaper for interesting headlines and you can catch up on news whenever you have access to the Internet. Take 20 minutes to sign up on your favorite news websites and avoid ever having a wasteful, bulky paper to recycle again - not to mention all the money you will save by nixing your newspaper subscription.
5. Subscribe to your local paper online - Most newspapers now offer an online subscription option, and some even post the entire paper online for your free viewing pleasure. It will take you less than 20 minutes to cancel your print newspaper subscription and to sign up for online delivery and you will avoid the energy, water, trees and transportation involved in the production, delivery and recycling of a print newspaper. If you use the coupons that come in the Sunday paper and they aren't available to print on your local newspaper's website, then only subscribe to the print edition for Sundays - that will still save 6 days worth of papers each week.