General Purpose: To persuade audience to adopt the use of E-readers instead of textbooks.
Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience to transfer from using textbooks to using E-readers.
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"Risk of Textbooks".
Thesis: My audience ought to transfer from using textbook to using eBooks because: (1) textbooks pose a huge danger to our environment; (2) eBooks are a great solution to be taken a put in action. (3) Textbooks use a lot of student’s money.
Attention step
I use textbook, she is using textbook, he uses textbook, we all use textbooks!
Why only using textbooks?
There are many industries that manufacture textbooks globally
Many students and other literate people use textbooks daily
Textbooks include magazines, books and newspapers
II. (Credibility Statement). Hi! I am Howard John and I have been using E-readers for the last three years.
E-readers are very cheap compared to text books
E-readers do not produce carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
III. (Topic justification). Based on various statistics, it is clear that many universities and other learning institutions are adopting the use of E-readers.
Studies indicate that around 1million E-readers books are sold in US globally.
E-readers produce significantly less negative impacts on the environment
E-readers save the atmosphere from huge emission of carbon dioxide gas
However, in Kuwait students are discouraged from using E-readers.
E- Readers save students money used in buying textbooks.
IV (Preview). Today I want to persuade you to adopt the use of E-readers
First, E-readers results into environmental friendly atmosphere
Secondly, E-readers will save you your money
Finally, E-readers will reduce water wastage and usage in book manufacturing industries
Transition: Let’s begin by illustrating some of the serious environmental impacts of textbooks.
Problem/Need Step
[Statement of the problem] Producing textbooks have posed a huge harm on our environmental entity.
[Extent and seriousness of the problem] A lot of statistics show that producing textbooks is fatal to the environment just like burning trees. (Simile)
It costs us lives of huge numbers of trees that contributed to the fact that we inhale Oxygen.
Human beings use oxygen for most respiration activities in the body. Most of the oxygen in the atmosphere usually comes from trees in our environment.
“In 2008, the U.S. book and newspaper industries combined resulted in the harvesting of 125 million trees, not to mention wastewater that was produced or its massive carbon footprint.” (Ritch 3).
Carbon footprint produced by producing textbooks is dramatically huge.
“Books have the highest per-unit carbon footprint in the publishing sector, as well as significant sales, making them one of the biggest environmental offenders in publishing.” (Ritch
The number of industries publishing textbooks ranging from newspapers, reading books as well as magazines is increasing globally (Sanchez 253).
Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming and other negative environmental effects (Sanchez 262).
(Audience involvement] All of us are college students, and we all are, somehow, involved in this process.
When we buy a textbook, we contribute to the procedure of harming the environment.
The number of students using textbooks globally is increasing and cause huge amount of carbon footprint produced in the various publishing industries (Ritch 4).
Textbooks promote environmental degradation (Sanchez 261).
[Talking about the students’ responses to the “3 Question Survey”]. In my survey, ten people among you answered my questions.
All of you agreed to agree that given the opportunity they save the environment.
Majority of you supported the E- readers instead of textbooks (Gattiker 608).
We can argue that textbooks have huge negative impacts on the environment (Sanchez 260).
Abandoning textbooks will save us a lot of money as student.
E-readers are what will save the world from these negative environmental impacts posed by textbooks use (Gattiker 605).
When we adopt the use of E-readers we will save a lot of money as well as reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the atmosphere because book publishing industries will lack customers to sell their books (Sanchez 254).
Transition: We have discussed some of the negative effects of textbooks on the environment; now let’s discuss some of the solutions to this problem
Satisfaction Step
(Evaluation of proposed alternative solutions) .There is some potential solutions that can be offered in order to reduce the negative environmental effects of textbooks, although they are facing some controversy.
Textbooks which are not sold can be taken back to the industries for recycling.
According to the journal of Environmental Science and Technology, the recycling of textbooks saves trees and other natural resources (Ritch 7).
Recycling of magazines and other textbooks will save industries a lot of money (Weiland 1).
Many industries can convert textbooks and used it to produce methane gas which is very useful
“Approximately thirty six percent of hardcore and twenty five percent of soft cover books at bookstores are returned to publisher to recycle, incinerate or send to landfills, where they emit methane gas”. (Ritch 4).
Methane gas can be used in cooking and as an alternative source of fuel
Although recycling of books is good, many people don’t support recycling of books.
Recycling of books will involve the use of a lot of water in the industries despite saving trees water wastage will still occur in the industries
“In 2008, the U.S book and newspaper industries combined resulted in the harvesting of 125 million of trees. Paper is responsible for almost 75% of the publishing industry’s carbon footprint, despite the fact that newspapers already use 35% recycled content” (Ritch 3).
“GPI also calculated that books and newspapers produce 153 billion of gallons of wastewater annually” (Ritch 3).
II. (Statement of Solution). My solution is to provide you with information you need to avoid the using textbooks.
Majority of you indicated that you prefer carrying a small devices instead of a large bag full of books
Various learning institutions should adopt the use of E-readers and give room for more research about the effects of this technology enabled platform (Sanchez 245).
E- Readers have many benefits to both our environment and us.
A good example of E-readers book platforms include Amazon Kindle that has contributed to saving of around 11,185 kilograms of carbon dioxide globally (Carvalho 2610).
The introduction of Kindle DX around 26, 098kilogramsof carbon dioxide will be saved from the atmosphere (Ritch 8).
III. (Refutation). Others also argue that E-readers also lead to significant environmental effects.
When one read through E-readers there are some carbon dioxide emission in the atmosphere due to electricity use
According to KTC Centre for Sustainable communication in Stockholm, reading newspaper online for thirty minutes produce around thirty five kilograms of carbon dioxide (Ritch 7).
Energy used in the manufacturing and disposal of the computer in online reading produce fourteen kilograms of carbon dioxide per year (Ritch 8).
E-readers devices produce carbon dioxide and e-waste impacts through carbon footprint reading.
E-readers just like any other electronic devices are associated with environmental costs due to mining, energy use and disposal of e-waste (Ritch 7).
The carbon foot print of single kindle DX estimated from IDC, Babcock and GPI indicated that, each kindle produces the same carbon dioxide as thirty physical books ordered online (Ritch 6).
Many learning institutions should do more independent lab research and pilot test to determine the impact of E- reader’s devices on the users and the environment (Ritch 8).
Transition: Now that we have discussed about various solutions that can help in providing environmental friendly environment, let’s now talk about the negative environmental effects of textbooks.
Visualization step
I. (Negative visualization). There are a number of negative environmental effects posed by textbooks
A. E-readers produce some significant environmental impacts in terms of e-waste disposal as well as mining effects.
According to the Green Press Initiative, paper is the main raw material used in the manufacturing of books and other carbon footprint (Ritch 3).
Statistics also indicate that the amount of water that was wasted in various industries in U.S alone was about 153million gallons (Ritch 3).
Waste water from industries also contains various dangerous toxins such as toluene, hexane and methanol.
It is estimated that around 7.46kilograms of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere globally (Gattiker 594).
C. Newspapers contribute significantly towards carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere and other greenhouse gases emission.
1. In US alone, around 18.25billion newspapers are sold annually (Gattiker 589).
2. The U.S industries alone contribute around 111.32billion kilograms of greenhouse gases emission into the atmosphere (Tracana 211).
II. (Positive Visualization). Right now we can make conscious choice to stop using textbooks. Take a moment and imagine you are the chairman of school environmental club
You are guiding and encouraging other members of the club to use E-readers.
You are able to make this happen because you have already adopted the use of E-readers.
You plant trees and provide textbooks recycling procedures
We can make a positive choice of using E-readers and discouraging the use of textbooks
1. Students should consider the use of E-readers
2. You have empowered yourself because you made the conscious decision to take charge of your environment.
Transition: to ensure that we transform the environment we must adopt the use of E-readers.
Conclusion /action step
I. (Summary). Today, I have tried to persuade you to adopt the E-reader system. I have also discussed about negative environmental effects of textbooks.
Firstly, textbooks contribute huge cutting down of trees
Secondly, it contributes to carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere
Finally, it leads to water wastage and pollute the atmosphere through greenhouse gases emission
II, (Action). We must all adopt the use of E-readers in learning and reading to save our environment. All you need to do is to adopt the use of E-readers such as Amazon.com systems
Students in Kuwait should be encouraged to use E-readers mostly
III. (Closing Statement). Adopt E- readers save the environment.
- Carvalho, Graça S., et al. “Trends In Environmental Education Images of Textbooks from Western and Eastern European Countries and Non-European Countries.” International Journal of Science Education 33.18 (2011): 2587-2610
- Gattiker, Thomas F., Scott E. Lowe, and Regis Terpend. “Online Texts and Conventional Texts: Estimating, Comparing, and Reducing the Greenhouse Gas Footprint of Two Tools of the Trade.” Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education 10.4 (2012): 589-613.
- Pektas, Murat, BahattinDenizAltunoglu, and CigdemEksi.”An Investigation of Environmental Literacy Concepts in Turkish Elementary Science Textbooks.” International Journal of Academic Research 5.3 (2013): 353-358
- Sanchez, Luise. “Environmental Impact Assessment Teaching At the University Of São Paulo: Evolving Approaches to Different Needs.” Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy & Management 12.3 (2010): 245-262
- Tracana, Rosa Branca, et al. “Analyzing the Theme of Pollution in Portuguese Geography and Biology Textbooks.” International Research in Geographical & Environmental Education 17.3 (2008): 199-211
