The Eco Friendly Writer

In celebration of Earth Day, today I wanted to share things you can do to be a more eco friendly writer.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, the natural splendor and environmentally friendly ethos makes it easy to be an eco friendly person and an eco friendly writer. But no matter where you are, you can make changes to reduce your impact on our planet.

Steps to Becoming an Eco Friendly Writer

Being an eco friendly writer is not a binary; there is no “I am” or “I am not” an eco friendly writer. Instead, it’s a spectrum, and we can all make the choice to do a little more, to strive for continuous improvement.

First, Reduce Your Consumption

If like me, you get cold while writing, the easy fix is to crank the thermostat or plug in a space heater. Instead, consider using a lap blanket! I have several both at home and at work. I also have a favorite writing hoodie (NaNoWriMo Winner!) that I’ll pull on. If I’m still cold, I’ll sip a hot beverage as I work. In the summer, instead of flipping on the air conditioning, I park a small swamp cooler on my writing desk. It uses evaporation and a tiny fan to provide a rush of cool air.

You can also make your writing area more eco friendly by using LED lamps and lightbulbs. Not only do they use a lot less electricity, many allow you to change the “temperature” or color of the light. I like a softer, warmer light when reading, but a brighter colder light when plotting. Another way to reduce your overall consumption is to adjust the power settings on your monitors. I’ve changed mine to switch my monitors off after 5 minutes of inactivity.

Make the Easy Choices

Whenever possible, I try to go paperless. Electronic banking has made it very easy to save receipts as PDF files. I have them organized and sorted in a cloud-based folder, so if my tax accountant needs them, I can email or share them. And if no one ever needs the receipts, why print them?

Speaking of saving paper, one of the best decisions I’ve made was to purchase a reMarkable tablet. It feels like paper and I use it extensively while plotting and throughout the revision process. I wrote a review about it a while back, but after finishing and publishing two books, I’m even more enthusiastic about it. Not only has it saved hundreds of pages of paper, it’s portable!

Read Sustainably

As a writer, a big part of my consumption is books(has anyone noticed how much I read??). Because of this, I’m a huge fan of acquiring used books. Not only are used books more economical,  but you can often find amazing books that are out of print and not available digitally.

I also read a ton of ebooks. While there are arguments that ebooks also take a toll on the environment (electronic components of ereaders, electricity, and the power consumed by data warehouses to store ebook files), ebooks still don’t have as large a carbon footprint as printed books (cutting trees, chemicals to create paper, binding glues and inks, shipping materials and inventory multiple times, and the storage of physical inventory). Plus, instead of a dedicated ereader, I use a multi-use tablet. This allows me to do more than one task with my tablet. And, as a bonus, I can read books from multiple retailers and libraries.

Libraries are a terrific resource when you’re trying to reduce your consumption. Not only can you get printed books, you can also borrow ebooks and audiobooks. Plus, where the used book market doesn’t benefit an author financially, some library models pay the author per checkout. As a further benefit, libraries often host author events. My critique partners and I recently went to hear Emily St John Mandel speak about her newest book. If you haven’t heard of her, she’s the author of Station Eleven, one of my favorite hopeful post apocalyptic novels.

Take Advantage of New Technologies

These last two suggestions are changes that have occurred in the larger publishing industry, and I’ve taken advantage of both. The first is delivering ARCs (advanced reader copies) electronically, and the second is the change to print on demand. I only send out digital ARCs, but before platforms like NetGalley, BookSirens, and BookFunnel existed, authors had to send physical copies of their books to reviewers.

The ability to print on demand (POD) was another enormous shift for the publishing industry. While some indie authors do commission print runs from book printers, most of us go the POD route. Not only are books only created after someone orders them, the printers ship them directly so the inventory doesn’t have to be shipped to multiple places. And it’s not only indie authors taking advantage of this technology; traditional publishers are using it too. My hard cover copy of Jade City by Fonda Lee was published by Orbit (an imprint of the Hachette Book Group) and has a POD stamp at the back like mine do.

Next, Reuse Materials Whenever Possible

Even when we try to reduce our consumption, we still end up with things we no longer need. Recycling is good, but it’s even better if you can reuse the materials before you recycle them. Books are a good example. While you could read a book, then toss it in the recycle bin (please don’t!) it’s much better to sell or donate your books. I have two book sellers near me I take my books to, but you can also sell them at garage sales or donate them to a variety of thrift shops. There are also programs like PaperbackSwap and BookMooch where you can trade your books to other bibliophiles for books you want.

BookCrossing is a fun program where you “release” your used books into the wild. They define wild as cafes, doctor’s offices, the bus, etc. It has a label system where other BookCrossers can report on the books they find, read, and release, and you can watch the books you’ve released make their way through many other readers. You can also go “hunting” for books. The BookCrossers around me release many books into tiny neighborhood libraries.

Think Outside the Recycle Box

Whenever I receive dented or dinged books I can’t sell, I donate those copies to tiny neighborhood libraries. There are three of them within walking distance of my house, so I wrote a note in each about being a local author. It’s fun watching my books disappear and reappear as neighbors check them out.

Another thing I reuse is packaging. I use junk mail envelopes as scratch paper for notes or grocery shopping lists. Junk mail is free, plentiful, and when I’m done with it, I can still recycle it. I also save certain sizes of the poly bubble envelopes from Amazon, and reuse them when I need to ship a book. So far, no one has complained, the books ship well, and I feel better about getting two uses out of the packaging.

Last, Recycle

When you can get no more use out of an item, it’s time to recycle it. We have full commercial recycling available here, but sometimes, instead of sending items to the regional recycling center, we compost them at home. For example, we shred sensitive junk mail and use the shreddings in our compost bin and to line our parrots’ cages. You can also compost coffee grounds and tea bags! We use the compost to enrich the soil in our organic garden, so composting is a win-win-win for us.

Be an Eco Friendly Writer

Beyond what you can physically do to reduce your impact on this planet, as a writer, you have a platform. Books like Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, and Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood have changed how people think about the planet and our place on it.

Even if you don’t want to address the environment in your work, you can still strengthen your character’s environmental responsibility. Use it to show who they are in your fiction. Incorporate environmental issues into the conflict and obstacles between where your character is and where they want to be.

Earth Day may have been established in 1970, but the need to reduce our impact on our planet hasn’t lessened, so let’s do what we can to help, not just today, but every day!

What have you done to be a more eco friendly writer?

Header Photo by Shelby Miller on Unsplash