Books

Books are wonderful tools, for recreational purposes and for understanding our world. The cultural status of a country is often measured by citing the literacy rate and  the number of books published each year. Icelanders are a cultural nation that puts great emphasis on books and which buys a lot of them. Unfortunately they usually end up as prisoners on the bookshelves for many years or decades. Why not liberate these books from our bookshelves?  When you have read a particular book, why not write your name on the first page, and also the date when you read it. After that you can leave the book in a public place like on the bus, or in a café so that other people can read it too. The book will be widely read to the enjoyment of many.

From an environmental point of view, less paper is used in printing few books that many people read than many books read by only a few. Also you can give books as present or sell them again. Books need a lot of paper and to make paper we need the forest. But the paper used in books is nothing compared with the paper used for newspapers all around the world-newspapers that are thrown away the next day. It takes a long time before paper is decomposed and destroyed. Recycled paper is used, for instance, to make toilet paper. The acidity of paper is one of the factors that eco-labels take into account. The Nordic Swan considers the production process and environmental impact of paper. 

Avoid buying furniture made of wood from the rainforest such as teak, merbau, mahogany. Keep in mind though, that it is better to buy furniture made from hardwood and lasting wood than cheap bookshelves for example, from poor quality wood which has to be renewed every two years or so.