The news for the past week or so seems to have been primarily about useful tools for writers. We've had decreased friction from BookFunnel and increased revenue opportunities from Substack. Now we have a tool that really helps to connect creators with their audience's values. It won't, of course, be for everyone or all audiences. But for some it may be incredibly valuable as “proof of value.” The Green Book Alliance has just launched the Book Carbon Calculator.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
It's hardly a closely guarded secret that the book business has some issues when it comes to the environment, from the vast amount of transportation, not to mention water and wood pulp involved in the production and transformation of paper products, to the tricky business of “returns” that end up in the pulper.
What the Calculator Measures
Printed books have the most obvious environmental impact, and this is where the Book Carbon Calculator focuses. It's a shame that it doesn't (yet) have any equivalent for e-books or audiobooks. Nor, which would definitely help align environmentally conscious consumers with creatively conscious ones, does it calculate the carbon cost of any AI used in producing a book. Though it does measure emissions across six categories from paper production to end of use. And that includes the human carbon cost of writing and editing (though just by asking if it's outsourced or not).
At the end of the process you get a PDF that estimates the carbon cost of each title whose details you submit. I had a go, and it's an intuitively simple tool to use, though you will need to know some details about the energy use of your office, and most trickily for many, the printing and distribution center locations, which could be difficult for print-on-demand titles that are printed in various places according to customer location.
Free Webinar Available
For those who are interested, and for those who aren't necessarily interested in this calculator but are very interested in general in the way that our industry generates its carbon footprint, there is a free webinar on June 30 where you can get a demo, a presentation, and Q&A. You can sign up for the webinar here.
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