Economical and Environmental Issues

Description

Global warming and other environmental issues are a hot topic nowadays, and more and more attention is paid on environmental factors. No other industry in the world produces as much environmental burden as paper-based publishing. Millions of trees are cut down every year for paper books, but paper-based publishing doesn’t only mean cutting down trees. It also requires huge amounts of energy and water, produces greenhouse gases and other pollutants, solid waste, chlorine and other toxins. E-books provide environmentally and economically a great solution by reducing paper and ink production, and they can be delivered to customers without distribution costs.

Enablers

- Environmentally conscious people start reading e-books
- Environmental activists have started to pay more attention on printing industry
- Governments set new environmental regulations
- E-paper technology is developing - Publishers save costs (paper, ink, distribution costs) when starting to publish more e-books

Inhibitors

- People still prefer printed books
- Publishing industry is not seen as a real threat to the environment
- Governments don't follow the environmental laws or create new regulations

Timing

- People, publishing companies and governments start (or are finally forced) to pay more attention on environmental issues in next years

Web Resources

http://blogs.adobe.com/billmccoy/2006/04/for_earth_day_e.html