Green Libraries Week
Thu 3/Oct/24
Green Libraries Week runs from 7-13 October 2024, celebrating libraries with a focus on the climate and sustainability.
Ever wondered how much good you're doing for the planet by just using your local library?
Let's take a quick look at how borrowing books can help shrink your carbon footprint.
Borrowing a Book Helps the Environment
When you borrow a book instead of buying a new one, you contribute to a positive environmental impact. This action reduces the demand for producing new books, which in turn saves resources and energy. Every time you borrow a book, it generates a "carbon handprint" of 0.7 kg of CO2. This means that by choosing to borrow, you're effectively preventing 0.7 kg of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere, helping to reduce your overall carbon footprint. Between April 2023 and April 2024, customers from Sutton Libraries prevented more than 600 tons of CO2 entering the atmosphere by borrowing books from the libraries instead of buying them!
Source: “Bringing environmental awareness of public libraries to the 2020s) project”, a study conducted by the Finnish Public Libraries Network
How can you further reduce your carbon footprint by using Sutton libraries?
Instead of staying at home with lights, heating, or air conditioning running, consider using the library’s facilities and reduce your personal energy consumption.
We offer eBooks, audiobooks, newspapers and online databases. Accessing these resources digitally eliminates the need for physical materials, reducing both printing and transportation emissions. For instance, you can access a curated collection of e-books with a focus on the climate and sustainability on Libby/Overdrive
Instead of buying physical newspapers, use PressReader for free with your library card and read newspapers and magazines online. This reduces paper waste and the environmental impact of newspaper production and distribution.
We offer a “Library of Things” at Sutton Central Library where you can borrow items like tools, electronics, and kitchen appliances. This reduces the need to buy new items, cutting down on manufacturing and shipping-related carbon emissions.
We regularly host workshops, lectures, and events on sustainability and green living. For example, just this week, you can join our event “The Tree of Hope: A Journey of Resilience”, an interactive event with author Anna Orenstein-Cardona as she takes young readers on a journey of courage, resilience, and the power of nature. You can also join talks and writing workshops around nature and ecology as part of the Sutton Literary Festival