When it comes to being eco-friendly, books don’t really make the grade. All that paper depletes our forests and rarely are books made from recycled paper and books are a heavy item to ship as well. But luckily there are eco-friendly solutions that are no-brainers.

Visit the library: So very retro, right? The library always has been and hopefully always will be an eco-friendly and budget-friendly way to read. If you don’t have a library card yet or haven’t been to the library in ages, do it now. September is the American Library Association’s Library Card Sign-Up month.

Swap online: Booksfree.com is like the Netflix of the book world. For $11 a month, you can borrow two paperbacks and keep a running wish list. Shipping to and from your home is included in your membership fee, and since they are paperbacks the carbon cost will be lower. Sites like this are a good book-sharing option if you can’t deal with library due dates. The site has over 200,000 titles ranging from the classics to the newest titles.

Get a Kindle: While the eco factor of electronic books has been long debated, a recent analysis by the Cleantech Group says that over the lifecycle of a Kindle, the carbon emissions are still less than reading traditional books. But if you don’t buy very many books each year, it’ll take much longer for the benefit to even out. The study showed that the breaking point was 22.5 books.

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