ARE PAPER BOOKS HEALTHIER?
I am not sure if there is a correlation between my myopic eye and the screens, but my eyesight did become worse since my father bought me the first computer. I used to read lots of net literature on that computer about twelve years ago. There were plenty types of the net literature which attracted me a lot, for instance, Chinese style fantasy novel, alternative love story. Net literature was hard to be published at that time which means the only way for me to read is reading online. Nowadays, the consumption of the written word is changing. Newspapers, magazines, books and other paper products are being replaced by a complex system of interconnected electronic devices (Bull, & Kozak, 2014). Electronic reading devices are getting more and more popular because of two simple reasons: readability and portability (Delamothe, Tony, Savage, Richard, 2000).
There was a funny story few years ago, when I was deciding to buy a kindle as a gift for myself, I talked with my friend with her thoughts about the statement: are paper books healthier? What we finally got was no. With our shallow knowledge, we thought paper books were made by trees, as the trees getting fewer, the condition of the air would get worse, which was bad for our health. However, what we concerned has figured out now. From Henry’s research, we can see although the trees are renewable, the regeneration rate of the tree cannot catch the usage rate of human beings. Currently, recycling is the best way to produce paper. Recycling, including pre- and post-consumer recycled fiber distinctions; carbon footprints; forestry; chain-of-custody (CoC) certification standards; paper recycling methods and economics; worldwide practices and economic impacts; green production efforts; and reducing waste (Henry, 2008).
In a word, what I have done for the research is not enough to proof weather is healthier or not, only shows the point of view from me and be cleared that the whole world is improving the use ratio of the paper.
Cited by:
Delamothe, Tony, & Savage, Richard. (2000). Revel in electronic and paper media. British Medical Journal, 321(7255), 192.
Bjork, B., & Turk, Z. (2000). How Scientists Retrieve Publications: An Empirical Study of How the Internet Is Overtaking Paper Media. The Journal of Electronic Publishing, 6(2), The Journal of Electronic Publishing, 12/01/2000, Vol.6(2).
Bull, & Kozak. (2014). Comparative life cycle assessments: The case of paper and digital media. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 45, 10-18.
Henry, P. (2008). Association of American Publishers: Handbook on Book Paper and the Environment. Publishing Research Quarterly, 24(4), 294-295.