Public libraries contribute to "freegan" way of life

Yesterday's NYT (June 21) has an article ("Not Buying It") about "freegans"--people who try to avoid purchasing anything from food to furniture. Instead they live off items that other people have discarded. Maybe it's more feasible to pursue that kind of way of life in a place where there are large concentrations of the wealthy, like New York City, than in less populated or less affluent areas. Anyway, one woman interviewed for the article has stopped buying books, but instead says she "logs onto bookcrossing.com, where readers share used books, or goes to the public library."

I hadn't thought of public library use as a way of reducing our collective carbon footprint, but clearly it is!