Textbook publishers should think more about environment and less about profits
To a large extent I agree with Barry Dalton about the needless waste of textbooks in Hong Kong (“Textbooks are thrown away in wasteful city”, September 25).
In most cases publishers do not need to bring out a new edition every year. My sister is a year younger than me so it makes sense for her to use my textbooks. And yet this year she had to buy a new maths and Chinese-language book, because new editions had been published. I flipped through them and except for some case studies, there was little difference between them and my older editions. Virtually everything was the same and it is pointless for publishers to do this. As responsible companies they should be trying to help save the planet. They should cut back on cosmetic changes and avoid where possible bringing out a new edition every year.
What is also needed is a change of habit by school pupils. They must stop scribbling answers in the textbooks. They can have a separate notebook to do that. It makes it much easier for them to sell the textbook second-hand, because the pages are clean. If they must write in the book they should at least use a pencil so it can be erased.
Bookstores and green groups should be willing to collect textbooks which are in a good condition and sell them second-hand. This can reduce the financial burden faced by low-income families who struggle to afford to pay for a lot of new editions. My school’s student union organised a book fair, so schoolmates could share books and this was very popular.
Teachers should encourage pupils who no longer need a textbook to donate it so that it can be passed on to needy families. If all stakeholders play their part, we can have a more environmentally-friendly attitude to textbooks in our schools.