Books vs E-Books Calculator

Your details

Choose the device you use for digital reading. Smartphones count as zero marginal manufacturing cost because they are already owned.
How many years before you replace the device. Longer use spreads the manufacturing footprint over more books.
years
Number of full books you read each year. Magazines and newspapers can be added below.
books/yr
Each magazine issue replaced digitally saves about 0.95 kg CO2.
magazines/yr
Each newspaper replaced digitally saves about 0.62 kg CO2.
newspapers/yr
Typical price you pay for a new print book, including tax and shipping.
USD
Typical price per e-book purchase. Factor in subscriptions by dividing your annual cost by books read.
USD
What you paid (or plan to pay) for the device. Enter 0 for a smartphone you already own.
USD
CO2 saved over device lifetimeClear e-book win
428.8kg CO2

Net CO2 saved (positive) or extra emitted (negative) compared with buying all books in print, over the full device lifespan.

Breakeven books23books
CO2 saved per book7.46kg CO2
Equivalent trees (1 year)19.7trees
Net cost saving590USD
Print cost (lifetime)1,440USD
Digital cost (lifetime)850USD
Device manufacturing CO2168kg
Print CO2 total596.8kg
Digital CO2 total168kg
Total books (lifetime)80books
Print books2,036.8
E-books1,018

CO2 saved: 428.8

  • CO2 (kg)
  • Cost (USD)

Digital reading saves 428.8 kg CO2 over your device lifetime.

  • Reading digitally on your dedicated e-reader saves about 428.8 kg of CO2 over 4 years - equivalent to 19.7 trees absorbing CO2 for a year.
  • You need to read at least 23 books digitally to offset the CO2 cost of manufacturing the device. At 20 books per year, that takes about 1.1 years.
  • You also save about $590 over the device lifespan by buying e-books instead of print, even after the device cost.
  • These figures assume all print books are bought new. Borrowing from a library or buying secondhand cuts the print footprint to near zero.

Next stepYou will read about 80 books over the device lifetime, well past the breakeven of 23. The longer you use the same device without upgrading, the greener e-reading becomes.

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