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Great Big Green Week: 6th - 14th June 2026

During Great Big Green Week, communities across the UK will come together to help tackle Climate Change. Using your local Library is one small step YOU can make to help!

To find out more about Great Big Green Week visit here

Borrowing a Book Helps the Environment When you borrow a book instead of buying a new one, you help reduce the demand for paper, ink, transport, and packaging — all of which have a carbon cost.

Each borrowed book saves an estimated 0.7 kg of CO₂ emissions*. Between April 2025 and April 2026, Southend Libraries customers prevented over 300 tonnes of CO₂ from entering the atmosphere — simply by borrowing instead of buying!

Easy Ways to Go Greener with Southend Libraries:

Use the space

Libraries are warm, welcoming, and energy-efficient public spaces. Working, studying, or reading here instead of at home helps cut down your personal electricity and heating use.

Borrow, don’t buy

From books and audiobooks to tools and kitchen gadgets, borrowing keeps resources in circulation and reduces waste.

Access digital books and audio books or sustainable reading:

No printing, no shipping, no paper waste! Explore our library at BorrowBox.

Read your news online

Save paper by switching to PressReader, where you can access thousands of newspapers and magazines for free with your library card.

Help create a greener, more sustainable future, one library visit at a time.

*‘Bringing Environmental Awareness of Public Libraries to the 2020s, Finnish Public Libraries Network’ Bringing environmental awareness of public libraries to the 2020s project’s materials now in English | Libraries.fi