It isn't easy being green - or is it?

What I'm reading: Compulsion, by Jonathan Kellerman

What I'm working on: Plotting back story for Fozzie's book.

I'm about to depart for a family celebration in New York; my mother-in-law turned 90, and we all decided to gather to celebrate. I'm not taking my laptop, so I'm leaving the Internet behind. Three of us are trying to consolidate as much as possible into one checked bag--since my daughter is visiting from Ireland, she brought some excellent distilled spirits to give as gifts, and those can't be checked. I may be able to go four days with no Internet, but definitely can't go four days without books. But space is an issue.

Not to worry; I have my eBookwise loaded with 5 new books, which should be enough, given all the family activities planned. The reader takes up about as much room as a paperback, and it's my favorite way to read when I travel. But how much good am I doing the environment by cutting down on paper books? After all, it runs on batteries and I use electricity when I have to re-charge it, after about 12 hours of reading time. In addition to saving space, I'm saving trees.

I discovered some interesting facts.

Reducing paper use does more than save trees. Pulp and paper mills are also a major source of pollution. They release into the air CO₂, nitrogen oxides (NO_x), sulfur oxides (SO_x), carbon monoxide, and particulates, which contribute to global warming, smog, acid rain, and respiratory problems. In addition, bleaching paper with chlorine can produce dioxin, which is known to cause cancer. Paper mills also produce large amounts of solid waste and require a lot of water. The industry is trying to clean up, but anyone who's driven past a paper mill has smelled the challenge.

You can read the entire article here. The article says that we're probably 50 years away from e-books being widely used, but hey, it's a start. I'm not looking to replace my entire library with e-books, but having an alternative helps.