I don't know much about it's safety, but I do know that it's very clean. I read somewhere (either popsci or sciam) that they have found a way to recycle the waste repeatedly, dramatically reducing the amount of waste produced.
My community college chooses books that cost $15-$20, it was nice. Then at the University levels they hit me with $200 books. As for new editions, I understand that Biology changes frequently, and the books might need to be changed periodically, but classes like Calc I shouldn't be updated every other year.