Just because something isn't a big investment doesn't mean you shouldn't treat it well. Maybe you'd maltreat a low-end camera, Miriel, but I'd probably try to at least take a little care of it, because then it could go to someone else. You're supporting local economy, yes, but you're also filling landfills and denying just a little more the opportunity to read the people who can't afford to buy new books.

Same goes for books. I learned through many issues of Archie comics what happens when you set books down flat on their pages, so I never do that anymore xD

Anyways, dog-earring doesn't make sense as a place holder anyways; if you read the book subsequent times, the old dog ears will still have a small fold in them (or worse, break off entirely)!

Writing in a book may seem just as bad as folding pages, I guess, and really, I'd probably write on a piece of paper I was using as a bookmark (you guys should see the page I used for Anna Karenina. Quotes over every inch of that thing), but at least it helps to further understanding, imo