A week ago before my unfortunate ‘fall’ (FYI – I am bed-ridden owing to a lower-back injury), whilst flicking through channels, I landed on a news piece on Hurricane Patricia. A CNN documentary followed on the causes and the possible measures that can be taken to prevent further damages.
The documentary consisted of nothing new, facts and root causes that every human being on Earth is already familiar with. Our constant burning of fossil fuels, greenhouse gases, deforestation etc. culminate to the natural calamities our Mother Earth faces each year. And then all of a sudden, an unsettling thought entered my mind and I have not been able to shed it since. And today when my medications have permitted me some time with my senses, I want to share the thought with you all before I fell back into a medic-o-coma!
Are you all set to witness a horror we have conveniently ignored all our lives?
My name is Ifrah Waqar. I am a Book addict. And I am responsible for Hurricane Patricia (and every other natural disaster since the dawn of civilization). You are already well-briefed with the concept of planting more trees and how this mere act can help us save our planet. Trees help combat air pollution, conserve energy, save water, prevent soil erosion, and provide food and much, much more. But what we fail to comprehend is that every time, we visit a bookstore to purchase a single traditional, printed book, we cut down a tree from the face of the planet!
I have always debated against electronic books; the feel of a paperback in my hands is perhaps the greatest thrill in my life. And I simply cannot imagine my library reduced to a portable electronic device. But does this mean I am single-handedly involved in destroying my planet? My father (Bless His Soul) offered to buy me a Kindle and I refused. I have a tablet and access to multiple ebooks but I always prefer to buy my paperbacks.
Does this mean that each time, I choose to buy a traditional book, I contribute to global warming? Are all bookworms around the world responsible for the hole in the ozone layer? Is the global demand for books which we consider to be progress directly proportional to the number of lives lost around the globe to disasters like Hurricane Patricia?
I often claim to recycle which I do actually. I try to conserve water while washing or bathing. I conserve electricity. Even my office uses recycled paper but is that enough against the hundreds of books I hoard in my room?
Haunting? Isn’t it?
Perhaps this is just my conscious talking in the wake of horrors of Hurricane Patricia or the recent Heat Wave? But all this has certainly convinced me to reconsider ebooks.
Is the joy of picking out a paperback and feeling it under my skin worth another Tsunami?
Is calling a library of over a 1000 books worth disrupting the North Atlantic Current?
I know buying one less book will not do much for global warming but its a start right?
I ask you all: Are we Bookworms responsible for Global Warming? *wishes she is wrong*
