diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2f7f265
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+COMIC_BOOK_VOLUME
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 65ec4dd..f44bf0e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -27,6 +27,18 @@ The CBWebReader is a Django project and follows the standard conventions for a D
 git clone https://github.com/ajurna/cbwebreader
 ```
 
+Configure the environment using the `.env` file or setting each variable within your environment:
+
+```bash
+cp .env.example .env
+```
+
+Alternatively, set the path to your `COMIC_BOOK_VOLUME` like so:
+
+```bash
+export COMIC_BOOK_VOLUME=some_path_to_comics_directory
+```
+
 Build and run the project using docker-compose:
 
 ```bash
@@ -34,6 +46,7 @@ docker-compose build
 docker-compose up
 ```
 
+
 ## Running Tests
 
 To run the entire test suite for CBWebReader, execute the following command:
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index d61cda9..34d219f 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ services:
       - ./cbreader:/src/cbreader
       - ./comic:/src/comic
       - ./comic_auth:/src/comic_auth
-      - D:\Downloads\comics:/data
+      - ${COMIC_BOOK_VOLUME}:/data
     command: python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000
 
   database:
@@ -30,8 +30,3 @@ services:
       - POSTGRES_USER=admin
       - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password
       - POSTGRES_DB=cbwebreader
-
-# volumes:
-#     comic-volume:
-#         name: comic-volume
-#         external: true
\ No newline at end of file