Leaflet Reading and Sustainable Publishing

By: Ramona Lotter
Supervisor: Dr. Gesa Lüdecke

Have you recently read a book? Do you still know what it was about and which impact it made on
you? Most likely, yes. But do you also recall how it was made and which impact this had on the
environment? Perhaps not and you just remember how beautiful it was. Well, that is not unusual.
Even if especially in terms of sustainability, the materiality of print products is very important, it is
not always easy to discern which books are sustainable. The materials involved in book
manufacturing are diverse (ranging form wood to mineral oils) and are often not specified in the end
product. The situation is even more complicated if digitalization is considered and printed books are
compared with e-books.

However, readers want sustainable products and more and more publishing houses as well as
printers call themselves sustainable. This is where my Final Project comes in, combining my master’s program Book and Media Studies with the Environmental Studies Certificate Program to create a concise and independent overview of sustainability involved when buying or publishing a book.

I created a leaflet that deals with the eight book-related categories paper, printing, binding,
finishing, storage/logistics, digitization, paper/printing/book industry, and eco-labelling and teaches
everyone, without building on prior knowledge. The format of the leaflet was chosen so it can be printed on one sheet (thus saving resources) so that it can be easily distributed, for example in libraries or bookstores, and motivates people to read all of it.

Regarding the complexity of the topic, the flyer became a very shortened overview and merely a
teaser to the contested positions and inconsistencies, especially as a lot of the information available
is provided by the book/paper/printing industry. Therefore, there is also an excessive source section
that invites to further research.

But see for yourself and feel free to share and distribute the flyer!