Posted by Jennifer Escalona on Mar.23, 2009

©iStockphoto.com - David H. Lewis

If you are a book lover like me, chances are that your book collection is out of control. I have three bookshelves in my house filled to double capacity, a car-sized stack of cardboard boxes in storage in my poor mother’s basement, and an addiction to used book sales that even the best support group (Bookworms Anonymous?) wouldn’t be able to shake. Most of the time, I’m fine with this state of things. After all, there is always a book or 30 to keep me company in the bathtub, and frankly, I like having millions of words worth of knowledge and entertainment just a few steps away.

Last year, though, I began the process of going green, and really took to heart the concept of treading more lightly on the earth. Facing a big move to a new place, I began recycling or freecycling all my unnecessary possessions, and found that not only did I get a cleaner house for my trouble, I got a lighter conscience, too. Soon it became apparent to me that, if others could get good use out of my old DVD/VCR combo, why couldn’t they get good use out of my old books, too? So I searched around on the internet for the best ways to contribute to a sustainable world when buying, selling, and trading old books.

Buying and Selling

We’re bookworms. Sometimes we just have to have that book. Luckily for Mother Nature, with a little searching it is possible to assuage any green guilt while taking an unwanted treasure off someone else’s hands by buying used books.

Better World Books – Otherwise known as “the bookstore with a soul,” Better World Books began as an effort by a trio of Notre Dame students to earn some pocket money by selling old textbooks, and ended up become a business with a cause – to support literacy around the world. Used books purchased from the site, which are shipped free of charge to US customers, are shipped carbon neutral with offsets from carbonfund.org, and better yet, the sale of more than 11 million books from the site has translated into $4.5 million in funding for literacy and education. If you simply have to bring a new book into the house, you can’t shop at a much better place than Better World Books. Be sure to check out the “Bargain Bin” section for deals on five books for $15 dollars.

Half.com – Half.com was such a popular forum for exchanging books and other media that it was quickly swallowed up by eBay. If anything, though, the takeover made Half.com better. Harnessing the worldwide popularity of eBay, the site has a huge selection of books, generally with multiple copies of each. But don’t worry, unlike its parent site, Half.com doesn’t require bidding, so you don’t have to worry about losing out on a coveted book at the last minute. Looking for the cheapest read possible? I’ve found books in “Acceptable” condition from as low as .49 USD. As for shipping, in the United States you’ll pay a standard rate of $3.99 per purchase.

As a seller on Half.com, you can rest assured that you will be protected by all the safeguards that eBay has developed over its years in business. Collector that I am, I do not have as much experience with the selling aspect of Half.com, but if you are looking to unload old books on people who will enjoy them and make a little extra change on the side, Half.com seems like a good candidate.

Didn’t find what you were looking for at Better World Books or on Half.com? Popular sites like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com also offer a marketplace for individuals to buy and sell used books.

Trading

PaperbackSwap.com – PaperbackSwap allows registered users to trade old paperbacks in exchange for credits. And, contrary to the site’s name, hardback books are welcome, too. To get started, just go to the website, sign up, and post some old books that you have lying around. (Hint: The easiest way to post is by ISBN number.) New members receive two credits for signing up, and then one more credit for every book sent out to another PaperbackSwap member. It costs a little over $2 to ship a book, and the site even lets you pay postage through Paypal and print a shipping label right from your computer, meaning no need to stand in line at the post office. Then, books mailed and credits safely in your account, you are able to search for all those books you’ve been meaning to read among the approximately 3 million available on the site. Basically, for less than the price of a used book, you can have books shipped directly to your mailbox.

PaperbackSwap.com, and similar sites like BookMooch.com, is a great resource for finding used books. Because you end up with another book for every book you’ve swapped, this site does not actually help you cut down on your clutter, but it is a great venue if you wish to give an old book a new, appreciative home. For me, the packrat, I feel a little better sending old books out into the PaperbackSwap waters than simply selling them, because then I get to hold onto the illusion that my old book is out there waiting for me if I should ever want it back.

Recycling

It wasn’t until I spent a summer working in a library that I realized that the majority of books donated to libraries never find their way to the shelves and thus, the reading public. As it turns out, due to matters of cost and longevity, libraries are picky about the books they enter into circulation. Instead, donated books in less than pristine condition usually go to a central location where they wait in dark, cold warehouses until the library system holds a book sale. Sometimes they don’t even make it that far, and are summarily donated elsewhere or dumped in the landfill.

This seemed unforgivable to me at first until I found out that, due to the glue used to bind books, there is no good way to recycle them. But luckily, if after swapping and selling your old books you still have some worthwhile reads to give away, you have other options before resorting to the library or the landfill.

· Donate them to a long-term care facility, retirement home, battered women’s shelter, or any other place in your community where the power of a good book can take someone’s mind off their burdens.

· Have a party! Invite all your reading friends to bring their old books and swap them out. Once again, this might not decrease your bookish clutter, but it will provide you and your friends with some new reading material and give everyone a great excuse to get together.

· For a more tech savvy way to share books, check out BookCrossing.com. This website invites people to register a book on the site, then tuck a unique “Bookcrossing number” in the book and leave it somewhere in public – like a train, a park bench, a waiting room – for someone else to find. With a little luck, the lucky finder will log into the BookCrossing site and then pass it on, allowing for everyone associated with the book to track its journey. I haven’t tried BookCrossing yet, but it sounds fun. My only worry is that any book I leave on a park bench in my city will be mistaken for litter and end up in the landfill instead of on a trip around the world.

If a dedicated bookworm like me can reform, then so can you. And believe me, even after investigating the above options, there are still plenty of books left on my shelves, so if any readers have suggestions for handling old books, I would love to hear about them.

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