How to dispose of books – Throwing away books – many people shy away from that. But there are alternatives. We’ll show you how to give away, donate, sell or upcycle books.
Countless novels, cookbooks and encyclopedias are gathering dust on your bookshelf that you will probably never touch again? No more space for new releases? And do you actually prefer to read books on e-books anyway?
There are many reasons to sell a book collection. The books to throw in the trash, but hurts many people, after all they contain knowledge and are an expression of our culture. If the books are in good condition, you can try to donate them, give them away or sell it.
Alternative Ways How To Dispose of Books
How To Dispose of books: exchange, give away, donate
You can pass on books that you liked to friends and acquaintances with a clear conscience. Or you donate your books to strangers. There are the following options:
- City libraries are sometimes happy about books, especially if they are current or classics. Just ask for it.
- Also social department stores such as Oxfam are generally happy to accept donations of books.
- In some cities, there are public Book Exchange Points, such as former telephone booths or so-called “book trees”. Here you can store your books – and maybe even find new exciting reading material.
- Yes depending on where you live you can Put boxes of books in front of the front door and attach a “For Free” sign to it. The passers-by are happy!
- You can pass on individual books by Bookcrossing: To do this, register the book in a virtual library on the Bookcrossing website, give it a label and brief instructions on Bookcrossing – and leave it on the train or on a park bench, for example. On the web you can follow who will read the book next.
Tip:
If you donate books, make sure their content is useful. No one can do anything with 20-year-old guidebooks, they belong in the waste paper
Read more:
8 Easy Ways – How To Reduce Household Waste
How To Dispose of books: sell
With a bit of luck, you might even be able to snag some money when you liquidate your library. That depends above all on how up-to-date, how “in demand” and how well preserved your books are.
- You can offer current books on eBay after reading them. However, you should hurry, because the market value, usually drops rapidly once the books have been on the market for a while.
- It is best to sell larger quantities of older books in a package at a fixed price, For example Momox or Rebuy. Again, the price depends on how popular the books are. With the ISBN number you can find out what is paid for each book (not every book is taken), depending on the provider you will receive a free shipping label from a certain value.
- You can also go to a flea market with your boxes of books.
Disposing of books: upcycling
Raw materials and energy are consumed in the production of books, and so there has been a trend towards upcycling, i.e. Further use, in recent years: instructions can be found on the Internet on how to turn books into lamps, tablet stands or picture frames. Pages can be used as wrapping paper and hard covers can be used to make jewelry or sewing boxes.
Dispose of books in waste paper
What if no one wants the books, perhaps because they are uninteresting, old, or damaged? Then they belong in the paper bin. Components that are obviously not made of paper, such as plastic covers or enclosed CDs, should be removed beforehand and disposed of separately. If there are large quantities of books, you can also take them to the recycling center, where they will be accepted free of charge.