In a time when threats to global ecology are becoming more of a concern, the fact that an interlinear translation, which contains two languages that express an author's thoughts instead of only one, uses more paper than a single-language book, means that critics could cite interlinear works as a waste of paper and an unnecessary burden to the environment. The Ecology Global Network notes that nearly 4 billion trees worldwide are cut down each year for paper, representing about 35 percent of all harvested trees. Additionally, starting in May 2012, the city of San Francisco will prohibit the distribution of phone books to residents who haven't requested them. The reason: To reduce paper usage and save trees.
Some, though, would argue using paper and cutting down a few more trees is a small price to pay for the advancement of knowledge, whether biblical or otherwise. Greek to English interlinear translations, for example, are a great aid to those studying Greek. For those disinterested in learning a foreign language via an interlinear translation, however, such a work might prove disadvantageous by interrupting the flow of the text's prose. If you were to read an interlinear work of the Christian Greek Scriptures or other Greek literature, you'll find the English translation underneath the Greek text, word for word and phrase for phrase, which doesn't make for a smooth, flowing read.
The reader is not the only one who might encounter disadvantages when using an interlinear. The translator, too, could suffer. Those at the Department of Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, highlight a special typographical challenge of formatting translated words and phrases so that they align with the original text above. This proves challenging, sometimes, when the translated words are longer than the original words, or vice versa. Literary works translated and printed without the interlinear feature don't have this problem.
Without a more idiomatic version of the translated text, the literal rendering of an interlinear translation could leave readers in the dark when coming across strange passages. For example, in the "Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures," a literal rendering of the apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians warns the Ephesians about "The dice cube of the men." The Kingdom interlinear clarifies this passage, though, in a more idiomatic translation set alongside the interlinear text, which describes Paul as warning the Ephesians about "the trickery of men." The literal "dice cube" reference pointed to men who cheated others in dice games. The average reader, without a clarifying translation accompanying the interlinear, may not have understood the intended meaning.