Images are screenshots from Flat World Knowledge videos.While the company's aim is to produce what may seem crazy, at first (free textbooks!), there's a pleasant side effect for the planet: Fewer books printed on paper means fewer trees that are harvested for said paper.
More than 20 million trees die every year to become the medium for books in the U.S., according to a Green Press Initiative climate impact report, a climate-concerned group that works with the publishing industry to find a solution that makes everyone happy.
GPI also says that the pulp and paper industry is the fourth largest manufacturing industry in the U.S. for greenhouse gas emissions. So, paper books don't just kill trees, they are changing the world's climate. Going a step further, when there are fewer trees in the world there is less oxygen being emitted and less carbon being stored as wood. The carbon goes into the air, which has less and less of the oxygen that trees produce.
Flat World isn't offering the books for free just out of the goodness of their hearts. According to a Chronicle of Higher Education article, the company plans to sell supplements, like study guides, to make money.
They also plan to offer print-on-demand versions for all those last-century scholars who can't quite seem to get a grip on the growing world of information offered via digital technology.
This idea isn't the only one in the neighborhood, but I think it's better than even textbook rental outfits, like Chegg.com. Renting means the books get reused over and over, lowering demand. It's a great idea that's been around for a while, but it doesn't eliminate the need for trees.
Don't get me wrong - Chegg is great - according to its site, the company actually plants trees to help offset those cut down for textbook production. I just think digital textbooks are closer to what's needed - financially and ecologically.
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