Saving wood pulp by typography choices, etc.

[Extollager]

https://www.fastcompany.com/91071102/harper-collins-made-a-tiny-tweak-to-its-book-design-and-has-saved-thousands-of-trees-as-a-result

The "save a tree" thing sometimes sounds simplistic because most wood pulp for paper comes from commercial tree farms. My understanding from an industry press release is that it takes about 25-30 years for trees to grow before they are harvested, during which time they are doing some of the good things trees do, and that about 2% of tree farms is harvested per year. It seems relatively sustainable. On the other hand this is monoculture for sure, and I wonder if vast tree farms are much more friendly to animals than, say, lawns. But on the third hand, if the tree farms weren't there, what would be the fate of the land that had been used for tree farms? I doubt that it would all be turned into ecologically diverse forests and animal refuges.

As for books -- I wonder how much of the total production of wood pulp is used for books as opposed to packaging, e.g. for various kinds of prepared foods. Probably thoughtful changes in packaging practices would be more effective than changes in book design for reducing demand for wood pulp.

 

[CupofJoe]

I read this as "HarperCollins made a tiny tweak to its book design—and has saved lots of money as a result"

 

[HareBrain]

Similarly, I think I mentioned once before on here, it seems (though I can't find "official" confirmation) that US and UK publishing diverged during WW2 in that UK went from mostly double quote marks (still used in US) to single, and I can only think that was to save on something for the war effort -- whether wood pulp, ink, or typesetting metal I've no idea.

 

[Biskit]

I came across a slightly different take on this today, a bbc article about the compact fonts and how to maintain readability whilst making the font smaller.

Carbon emissions: Publishers try skinnier books to cut CO2

Subtle changes to the font can make books much slimmer and lighter - saving money and CO2 emissions.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[CupofJoe]

I came across a slightly different take on this today, a bbc article about the compact fonts and how to maintain readability whilst making the font smaller.

Carbon emissions: Publishers try skinnier books to cut CO2

Subtle changes to the font can make books much slimmer and lighter - saving money and CO2 emissions.

www.bbc.co.uk

I read that article, and I have to say I was not impressed with the readability of the "improved" font from the example they showed. Maybe it works better if you see a full page.

 

[HareBrain]

The need to condense text in medieval times (to save on the cost of parchment or vellum) is what gave rise to Blackletter or Gothic, from which derived the Old English font now mostly seen in misspelled tattoos.