Hi everyone!
My name is Frede and today, I've got a discussion video on a topic that's been kind of floating
around in my mind for quite a while, but I never really got around to making a video
about it.
So I just watched a video over at Harriet Rose's channel where she talks about things
she would like to see more on Booktube, and one of the things that she mentioned was people
talking about Booktube and reflecting us as some sort of a subculture.
And this video actually made me want to film this one that I'm filming right now.
Basically, I want to talk about, or even more kind of ask the question of how sustainability
in an environmental sense fits into what we do here on Booktube.
Before I start, I just want to say that I'm by no means an expert on this topic. I'm
I'm a humanities student, so I probably have a much narrower perspective than someone who
would study environmental studies for example.
But that's also kind of the point of this video, I would like us to try and have a conversation about this maybe.
Now obviously, the reason we're here is because we love books.
But I think we might want to reflect on how our passion for books impacts the environment.
Sometime last year, Ariel Bissett made a video about things you can do in your everyday life
to live a bit of a more sustainable life.
And Sanne at booksandquills has a second channel called derpinaMODE where she and her friend
talk about mostly cruelty free cosmetics, but also, I've seen them talk about upcycling
and more sustainable period products, and then also Jean at Jean Bookishthoughts made
a video at the beginning of the year where she talks about how she wants to try and avoid
plastic in her everyday life.
So the concept of sustainability does seem to be on the minds of at least some of us,
but I've never really seen anyone talk about this as it relates to books.
So that's what I would like to do today.
Another reason I'm kind of bringing this up is that at the beginning of January, a lot of
people, especially on Twitter, were like freaking out because by 2050 there might be no chocolate
anymore because of climate change.
But then no one actually seemed to be willing to do anything about that, to change their
behaviour, to try and change other people's behaviour. And then about a week later no
one was talking about it anymore.
And this actually made me quite angry, because climate change is not something that's gonna
happen at some point in the distant future, but it's happening right now as we speak.
And there is obviously nothing we can do about that as individuals, but I think there are
little things that we can do in our everyday life that can at least minimise the way that
we contribute to that.
And I think a lot of those things are talked about in the videos that I just mentioned
which will obviously also be in the description, as well as some other stuff that might be interesting.
And then the last disclaimer before I start, obviously, I'm aware of the huge amount
of privilege that comes with me being able to sit here, to complain about people who
don't change their behaviour and to be able in general to make these small decisions.
To be able to eat no meat, to be able to try and buy groceries that are not packaged in
plastic, I'm aware that I'm very privileged to be able to do so.
But I think that actually quite a lot of us on Booktube are in this privileged position.
And I think because of that we might want to try and take some responsibility for things
we do, even as it relates to our hobbies.
Also, I really don't want this video to come across as this kind of eco freak yelling
at you and telling you what to do, but I just kind of think that if we want to talk about
sustainability, our free time and our hobbies do have to do something about that and we
need to take that into consideration.
So if we look at our shelves, doesn't matter if you have 10 books on there or 100 or 1,000,
that's a lot of paper.
And obviously, that had quite the effect on the environment.
Trees were cut down, transported somewhere, turned into paper, transported somewhere,
printed with ink that had to be produced, transported somewhere, probably bound somewhere
else, transported somewhere, maybe even wrapped in like plastic, sold to you at the bookshop,
you might take it home in a bag of the bookshop.
And even if you order it online instead, it's shipped to you, like a lot of transport, a
lot of packaging.
So I think it is safe to say that the books that we have on our shelves had in some way
or another a very negative impact on the environment, and I just wonder what we can do about that.
Now the first thing that came to my mind at least was, I asked myself whether E-Readers
might be a better alternative and I did some research and in a lot of the places I looked,
people weren't quite sure either.
Because obviously, making an E-Reader also has a huge impact on the environment.
You need different materials, but it also is shipped to places.
Obviously, an E-Reader is also not like the greenest thing you can have but apparently,
if you read something between 60-100 books on your E-Reader, that is actually more sustainable
than buying 60-100 books new in a bookshop.
Now I personally don't like reading off screens, and I actually like having a book
in my hand, like an actual book reading off paper.
I'm also this kind of materialistic person who just likes owning stuff.
And I think a lot of us do.
So I'm just asking myself what else can we do to minimise our impact on the environment?
Now I have always loved secondhand books, they are much more affordable than new books,
also you can find old stuff in there which is also fun.
So I always loved secondhand books, but I think with all these things I just mentioned
kind of in the back of my mind, they even seem more appealing to me.
So they definitely seem like an option that we all might try to reach for more often than
some of us do.
Now I live in a town that actually has quite a lot of secondhand bookshops, but I know
that a lot of towns don't have that.
So again, we could ask ourselves the question: what's worse, going to a bookshop and buying
a new book or ordering a secondhand book online that might even have to be flown in and transported
to your doorstep because the seller you would buy it from is not set in your country?
I honestly don't know, but I think that's just something we might want to think more about.
It's at least something that I think a lot about.
So I really try to not order too many books online even if that might be a bit more expensive.
As I said, I'm aware of the privilege that comes with being able to say "okay I'm
willing to pay 2 or 3 euros more and not order something online."
Also I think most of us own way too many unread books anyways, so if we're looking for a
book that we would in any case order online, buy in a bookshop, try to find in a secondhand
bookshop, we might always want to ask ourselves "do I really need that?
I have a lot of unread books, I might want to read those first."
So I think the main point of this video is actually that a way for us to be more sustainable
as it relates to books is being more conscious and reflected about what we do, especially
when it comes to buying books.
For example, when it comes to classics, I would never go to a bookshop and buy a classic
for like 10 euros, 15 euros, if I could get it in a secondhand bookshop for so much less money.
And like for example, this is my copy of Wuthering Heights.
It's an ugly cover, the spine has been broken multiple times, it's coming apart, like
you can almost take the cover off.
It's not that much of a battered copy apart from that, but it is a battered copy and I
know that a lot of people on here don't like that.
We are very much obsessed with like books in this pristine condition.
And I was wondering if we might want to try and change something about that.
Because like as I said this is an ugly cover but this was already printed many, many years
before, so no tree has to be killed.
I bought this actually in a shop so it didn't have to be shipped to me.
And of course, you could get yourself a beautiful Penguin edition but the content is the same,
so you might as well pick up this one, right?
So I think in that sense, the topic of this video also kinda ties into the discussions that
have been popping up every now and again about how here on Booktube, we're very much obsessed
with owning new books, owning books that are in a perfect condition.
And how that can also be deterrent for people who cannot for some reason or another buy
that many books at the same time.
Maybe they can't, maybe they don't want to, but in any case, this focus so much on
owning and having, I guess that really ties into sustainability in that sense.
And I think it also ties into the idea that we might just want to be a bit more reflective
of our buying choices and behaviours.
I suppose after all, the best thing you can do is get your book from the library.
Now as I just said myself, I like owning books.
But I also use the library quite a lot, especially when I try out authors that I've never heard
of and I just wanna see if they're for me, the library is an amazing place.
Also obviously, you don't have to pay for the books individually.
Usually, like at least at my library you have a yearly fee which at my library is 5 euros
so I think that is definitely worth it.
And then, if you're a uni student, at least my uni also has fiction books that you can get.
So I think there are ways that we can try and get books and read them and not have to
kill trees for that.
And not have to contribute to the pollution that's being done to the air, to the water,
to the ground in any kind of ways negatively affecting the planet.
This was a bit of a rambly video I guess and I very much focused on book-buying.
You could obviously take this much further and say "well, your camera and your laptop
and if you have lights and whatever also take up electricity so hm what about that?",
but I think at some point you need to draw the line.
Like, I'm not gonna move into the woods just because I don't wanna have an impact
on the environment, because you cannot possibly live on this planet without negatively impacting it.
But I think we should try and reflect our choices and be a bit more conscious of what
we do and the impact that it has.
So that was kind of I guess the point that I was trying to make here.
Also this video obviously doesn't mean you can never buy a new book anymore, otherwise
you're a bad person.
I also buy new books.
But I think one thing that's just important is that we're aware of the impact that we
have and that if we have the opportunity to make certain decisions, that we should maybe
try and make those decisions.
So please let me know what you think about this topic.
Maybe there's something that I didn't really think of, that I didn't really touch
upon in this video.
As I said I just mostly focused on book buying because that's the biggest thing that kind
of came to my mind.
So maybe you have a broader understanding of how for example climate change works or production
of paper vs. E-Reader, I don't know.
If there's anything knowledge-wise especially, that I didn't touch upon, that maybe I do
not know myself, please, please share this knowledge with us!
Also I mean even if you're a cynic and you think we're all gonna die anyways, and the
planet is dying so we might as well just not give a shit, maybe you just really don't
give a shit about the environment.
Like, you do you.
But I would just really like to hear your thoughts and opinions, not particularly on
this video because I know it was rambly, but on this topic.
I would really like to hear what you think about this, if this is something that is on
your mind, or whether me talking about this was kinda the first time you thought "oh
well, maybe that's something I could think about."
Any kinds of thoughts about Booktube and sustainability, I would love to chat about that with you in
the comments.
Please do be kind though, even if you thought this video was shit [laughs].
But yeah so, thank you for watching this video, please talk to me in the comments, and I will
hopefully see you in my next one.
Bye!
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