The Painful Truth: Are iPads Killing the Environment?

Quick! Which of the following three industries uses the least amount of forest land per year? Don’t look it up. Just pick one off the top of your head.

A. Lumber Industry

B. Paper Industry

C. Energy Industry

Many people would pick the energy industry because the product is invisible. You can’t see, hear, or touch energy. It doesn’t create a tangible product that clogs up the landfills. Plus, iPads, iPods, cellphones, laptops, GPS . . . the products are just downright cool. We need them.

Yet, the energy industry actually uses the most forestland per year — 53% of the total land used. [1] Much of this is to get at the coal beneath the forest surface. By contrast, the industry that uses the least forestland is actually paper, with 11% of the total forestland used. (The lumber industry uses 28%.) This is due to the emphasis on sustainable forestry practices that focus on maintaining forests as healthy, sustainable sources of supply.

It’s not popular to talk about the energy industry as the bad guy. I mean, even the most sincere environmental consultant, blogger, and activist is wired. But if we really care about the environment, we need to be honest with ourselves. Those gadgets don’t power themselves.

So if you’re looking to make a New Year’s resolution to better the environment, maybe you could resolve to lay off the gadgets. Read a book instead.

[1] Do You Know the Facts?