This is too funny ... have we forgot about the additional uses for newspaper; parakeet cage flooring, washing windows streak free, swatting bugs, making paper mache, lining cabinets, lighting on fire to start a fireplace, and the list goes on.

But I get the point ... online may be greener than reading a newspaper, but it's far more difficult to recycle a computer than it is to recycle newspaper. The answer will come with a perpetual newspaper, with flexible displays loaded up with the daily news; and you just leave it in the sun to recharge.

But ePaper (or whatever) will also end up being recycled and replaced just like normal PCs, so it's not the perfect solution -- but it's probably better than both paper and a full PC.

Of course, ePaper also replaces lots of other papers, not just newspapers. Ffor me, it would replace printed lecture notes and most other paper from university, and it could replace most useful letters I receive. White business paper contains less recycled material than newspaper, and probably uses more bleach etc, so reducing consumption would be even better here.

I like the cartoon,kind of sponge bob like-but if you look at the huge energy drain of the Google and Yahoo typical server bank ma-by it is OK to print on a paper...............

Also remember that reading a newspaper or book does not require electricity! No matter how many 'page impressions' I view. Are we really saying that in the future we want to only do our reading with electricity? Seems like a step back.

Joe is right on recycling too. Maybe you should factor in the manufacture & disposal of the PC - each time you view a web page you have to add in a small percentage of the resources used to build that PC. You can smugly say that reading stuff online uses less energy, but if you bin the old computer every 2 years for fashion, that is a big footprint you're leaving.

I think the best scenario would be small newspapers, with local pertainent information, ads that only cater to local business, and the paper could be 100% post-consumer recycled paper. People could then reuse it for the reasons listed by the first poster (Joe).

That would be much better than supporting a computer culture which has poor recycling adn requires more energy in manufacture.

Just to throw this one in people who keep coming up with new computer's need to come up with like a chip or something for those that like to upgrade all of the time and that would cut down on the computers being thrown away. Hey, it might even be cheaper.

Corinne