Climate Change Impact of Electronic Media Solutions: Case Study of the Tablet Edition of a Magazine

Shifts from print media to electronic media may be regarded as a possibility for promoting sustainability. However, the benefits of electronic media are not unquestioned. Previous studies on the environmental impacts of print and electronic media have shown that there is no easy answer. Contributing to this field of research, the present study sought to assess the climate change impact of the tablet edition of a magazine using a life cycle perspective. Results showed that with few readers the emerging tablet version had a higher potential climate change impact per reader than the mature tablet version, although the latter had a substantially longer reading time per copy. The contribution of content production, electronic distribution, reading on tablet and waste treatment of tablet to the impact was analysed. The sensitivity analysis of electricity mix indicated that this was an important factor that clearly influenced the overall results.