I was thinking about an e-reader for a long time. Amazon Kindle was the obvious choice. However, Amazon’s values are entirely against mine. You can start with their lack of competencies in employees’ wages, through the working conditions, and finally with the production of rubbish or burning unsold items to save space.
Additionally, I am one of those people who believe that daily choices represent the reality that we would like to see for ourselves in the world of tomorrow. Of course, governments should take care of shaping our future. Of course, corporations are responsible for making the overall changes.
However, without our votes, kroner, dollars, zlotys, pounds or yen, neither governments nor companies would exist. I started looking for something more friendly to the environment and people. It took me quite a while. However, thanks to the Ethical Electronic ranking, I came up with a great alternative. Rakuten Kobo Inc. is a Canadian company with HQ in Toronto, Ontario. It is a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Rakuten. The Kobo Clara HD reader was something I was looking for.
WHY?
They are not perfect, no corporation is, and neither is any human. However, they run various environmentally friendly programs.
As for their readers, they recycle the used ones. You can send them your electro-waste, and they will take care of breaking it down into pieces that can be used again. They have won various awards and prizes in Japan and worldwide for their commitment to building a sustainable future.
They also pledged to fully switch to renewable energies by 2025. More importantly, in order to confront the urgent issue of climate change, they have already teamed up with terrapass—a leader in carbon offset and renewable energy options. Through terrapass, Rakuten Kobo will purchase enough carbon offsets to make up for 100% of the emissions associated with direct shipments of their Kobo eReaders in 2019 and 2020.
The carbon reductions funded through this partnership are equivalent to taking over 1,600 cars off the road for an entire year, or powering over 900 homes with renewables for 12 months. From now on Kobo is committed to offsetting carbon emissions related to any of their direct shipments.
Finally, in 2018, they opened the door for Japanese customers interested in healthier solutions—Earth Mall by Rakuten, supporting sustainable producers by providing them with a platform for sale.
FOR WHOM?
I believe this is for everyone. The device itself supports 15 different files types and operates in eight languages. I hope you are bright enough to read in all of them.
HOW MUCH?
1290 NOK / £109.99 / $112.20
€109.99 / JPY13,330 / 670,01zł
WHERE?
Everywhere. Okay, maybe not everywhere, but in plenty of places.
Kiss kiss, bang bang, KARO