Just How Green Is That e-book?

It seems that the jury is still out on the environmental impact e-books is having in the market place. Just how green can they be?  The e-books in question, well at least the category leaders, Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iPad, Barnes and Nobles Nook, and Sony’s e-reader, have only been in the market place for a few years.  The life cycle of theses devices is not clearly known, and the toxicity they could present to the environment is not clearly indicated.  Amazon for instance provides no information on the Kindle, while Apple provides quite a bit.  But, Apple’s device does a lot more than the Kindle does, and Apple has a history of trying to be more transparent in their manufacturing process.  Beyond the physical environmental impact of these e-book readers, what about their carbon footprint, and energy use?  Amazon has indicated that they are now selling more e-books than paper book’s so is that good for the environment?  That means less paper, less cutting down of trees, and possibly fewer jobs?  Estimates claim that 125,000 trees have been saved from being cut down due to the rise of e-books.  But, how many more power plants do we need to fire up these e-books?  E-books are fairly energy efficient, but you still need electricity to operate them.  I haven’t seen an all-solar version yet.  From a personal stand point; my e-book is reducing the clutter in my home.  I’m reducing the lot of books on my shelf, and that in turn could help me in the future when I decide to downsize.  I like being able to carry around a lot of reading material in a small device.  It allows me to change my mind in what I want to read at any given time.  But, it still bothers me that I’m tethered to the electric grid, and to be honest, I do miss holding a book and feeling the texture of the paper.  And on those occasions, I will break down and buy one.