I mean it’s bad juju to throw books in the trash right? What’s the proper way to get rid of them? (with the least amount of effort)
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In our country we have these peddlers who buy papers, books, metal items for cheap and then they resell them to recycle then ultimately or for other uses.
Recycle them. It’s a bound collection of cellulose (and some ink); cellulose can be upcycled into other paper products. Like insulation, attic blow-in, boxes, etc.
Trashing it is trashing a resource, which sounds worse than it is in reality. It’ll rot & decompose nicely in a landfill.
Burning books…SUCKS…take it from me like it takes FOREVER and it burns page by page, you have to stir it constantly.
Finding a recycling center is so much better for the world, and easier for you. Win-win.
Make a little library on your front lawn and fill it up,before you know it they will be gone and people will have put others in its place.
Love these! We have one in my neighborhood and it’s pretty convenient to drop off my read pile in there.
Depends where you are; in the UK I take them to charity shops or give them to people who would appreciate them (just a few to each person or it gets a bit overwhelming). You can also leave them out on the street in a small box with ‘free’ on the side. There are some places with free ‘library’-type places that you can leave them in, or put them in cafes/leave on trains.
I used to volunteer in Oxfam Books and it’s honestly one of the best things you can do unless you do know people who want the books obviously.
Everything is inspected and if for whatever it’s not fit to be resold (big coffee stains, or missing pages etc) it’s recycled. And then any profits go to help people in need. And we came across some genuinely rare things a few times. An edition of Shakespeare which was worth £400 or so from the 1700s was probably the most impressive - this like that get sold online.
Obviously if there’s a different charity which means something more to you even better - I honestly think it’s the best thing to do with old books these days
Donate to library or school if in decent condition. Recycle if not.
I worked for a library. Most books we got donated, even if they were in good condition would just get pitched. We just had no need for them.
I think that’s dependent on the library. The few libraries I’m familiar with are always happy to accept donated books and put them in circulation (as long as they’re in good condition).
It probably also depends on the book. I have tons of outdated books on obscure topics within engineering, science, and computing. I doubt anyone would check out my 1995 book on the Vi text editor from a library. Although, if I’m lucky, perhaps it could be a collectors item some day. In reality, I’m probably going to just say “thank you for helping me so many years ago” and respectfully recycle the book.
That’s probably true, I would expect libraries not be very interested in obsolete technical books.
However, I image many of the books people have don’t match that description. And in my experience libraries (especially school libraries) are happy to take them.
I guess the libraries and schools can make the decision and throw out things they don’t find useful.
In Jewish tradition, the answer is burial.
Personally, I think immolation – burning – is an elegant way of returning something to the world without taking space or requiring much effort. I know people have an aversion to burning books, bit I think the difference is similar to that difference between burying a loved one after they pass and burying an enemy alive.
If your city offers industrial composting, I’d compost your books.
Lastly, you can do any of these, including throwing books in the trash with a statement of gratitude. Mari Kondo advises that we thank or belongings for their service and then throw them in the trash.
None of those seem like respectful uses of books.
Yeah when I burned Ethan Frome it was specifically to be disrespectful
Since these are inanimate objects that are incapable of comprehending respect or disrespect by themselves, this meaning is imposed solely by the humans involved in this process.
A common analogous situation is the burning of American flags. Lots of Americans freak out over it, the official “Flag Code” says burning is actually the respectful way to dispose of them, and most non-Americans just roll their eyes over the whole kerfuffle.
That said, I have a bunch of books I’d like to get rid of and that I know there’d be no demand for and I’ve got them stashed away because I know I’m going to have soooo much trouble actually physically dropping them into the recycler. Humans are irrational and superstitious, even when we realize that we’re irrational and superstitious.
Some libraries take book donations (either for adding to the collection, or for book sales), little free libraries (you can find local ones here), ‘Friends of the Library’ will sell them and donate the proceeds to the library, second hand book shops, thrift shops, charity shops, and of course there’s always throwing them out.
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I like to cite my sources :)
Good Will
fire
Was about to say. Burn them. They make great fire starter. Arguably one of the densest and best. I’d love the thought as an author to have my words burned away for someone’s enjoyment too.
I work with librarians and I have heard them say that sometimes an old worn out book is just a bunch of paper. Would you keep a bunch of paper lying around? Librarians throw out a lot of books.
if they are of decent quality a snd hand book store might take them
Take them to a used bookstore.
Leave them on the table in a coffee shop, one or two at a time.
Here in Toronto we have free little libraries. I would just put them in there.
They have them in Vancouver too. I love the idea of this being more widespread!
Recycle them. Or call up your local library and ask if they want them. Usually libraries will have an attached used book store, sometimes they put donated books there.
