3. What the Climate Crisis Does to Text

This chapter proposes a reassessment of the quality criteria for digital text developed in the previous chapter in the light of the climate crisis. It considers the environmental cost of the quantity, quality, circulation and complexity of information that has now been reached in north-western countries. Elaborating on criteria for measuring the environmental impact of text production, dissemination and preservation, this chapter envisions tomorrow's strategies for textual content in a context of greater respect for the limited natural resources that are at our disposal, arguing that the limited environmental weight of raw digital text calls for a reassessment of its role in preservation strategies. This chapter closes with a self-reflexive case study dedicated to the carbon footprint of the book From Handwriting to Footprinting itself.