Most people leave college or university with a great education, amazing experiences, and a pile of old textbooks they no longer need or want. Shoving them to the back of the closet only takes up space and shifts your headaches to a later date. You need to get rid of them, but you don’t simply want to throw them in the garbage.
Here are some eco-friendly ideas for what to do with books you don’t need anymore.
1. Sell or Trade Old Textbooks
Many classes require students to use the same textbook as the year before, so selling or trading them directly back to them or the school bookstores is the first option to consider. This only works if yours are recent and in excellent condition. It never hurts to ask. Some educational book platforms online might also purchase them and pay for shipping.
Always do your research before putting a textbook up for sale or trade. Many are, unfortunately, worthless after a few years. Scan the barcode or search for the ISBN, title, and publisher to determine the salability and reasonable price.
2. Donate to Schools and Libraries
The sustainability of ‘reuse’ in the Three Rs makes sense for large books. If the original university doesn’t want them back, ask smaller, less well-funded colleges and high schools in the area. They may appreciate adding a reputable textbook to their reference library.
The next option is public libraries in your area. While they usually prefer donations of books they can put into circulation, you never know if this is the eco-friendly solution to your storage issues. These options usually require you to deliver or ship the books yourself, so expect a small expense to use this eco-friendly option.
Before donating your books, take the time to understand how to clean old books and prepare them for the new owners. This will help give the next readers the best possible experience.
3. Unusual Donation Options
If you don’t mind shipping your textbooks, international literacy and book advocacy groups and prisons are two other options for book donations. Again, these are less likely to want textbooks, especially of highly specific or advanced subjects. Libraries Without Borders and the Prison Book Program may help. Different countries have their own versions of these and similar programs.
4. Can You Recycle Textbooks?
Only about one-third of all books get recycled, meaning that 640,000 tons of books end up in landfills yearly. Unfortunately, not every community has a program to recycle books, and even those that do may not accept textbooks. The paper pages can go in the regular recycling bins without a problem, but different types of covers cannot.
To recycle books properly, you will have to unbind them or cut all the pages out first. This is a minimal effort with a sharp craft blade in exchange for an eco-friendly disposal option.
5. Create a Book Exchange or Free Library
The Little Free Library organization has exploded in recent years. People who want to share their love of books with others in the community erect weatherproof huts filled with books to trade. Textbooks are not extremely popular in these things and are generally not a good option for large, heavy books with advanced subject matter. Simpler educational books may fit.
Of course, you can put in even more effort and create a book exchange or swap in your own neighborhood in another way. Community pages on social media can give you a good outlet for offering textbooks.
6. Use Old Books for Compost
The greenest folks may enjoy gardening as a supremely sustainable hobby and a way to get fresh vegetables and beautiful flowers. Old textbooks can help. For example, the basic black and white printed pages are your best option for recycling. It would take a very long time for a glossy cover to degrade, and you may not want the glues and colorful inks in your compost.
Use paper directly in the garden to cut down weed growth. Many expert gardeners recommend newspapers for this task, but textbook pages work just as well. Another option is to rip up or shred the paper and add it to kitchen and yard scraps in the compost pile or barrel. Paper helps with moisture absorption and can aerate the heavier compost ingredients.
7. Decorate Your Home With Textbooks
Some people love to display old books directly on shelves, but if you’re not interested in a school library look, you can still use these heavy tomes to decorate. Wrap the book in anything from brown Kraft paper to gorgeous fabric before sliding them onto shelves or laying them on tables. They make great pedestals for knick-knacks and other décor items. For example, you can even use several stacked to create structural items to hold lamps at the right height.
More decorative options involve some handicraft skills. Cover lamp shades with interesting pages. Frame text and images from inside the book with ink stamp designs or painted stencils overlaid on them. Another option is to build with books. Affix them together to create shelves or the legs of stools and similar occasional furniture pieces.
8. Repurpose or Upcycle Book Covers and Pages
Could an avid crafter look at an old textbook and fail to see a dozen creation options? Anyone who likes to create unique things with their hands and artistic abilities can repurpose book parts into something totally new and decorative. There are literally hundreds of options.
Use the interior pages for decoupage and cut paper crafts. Carefully cut off the covers and build trinket boxes from them. Cut the pages into strips, curl them, and create hanging ornaments or leave them whole for origami designs. Reuse bits of the paper for greeting cards and wrapping paper.
Textbooks end up forgotten in boxes on the backs of closets quite easily. Reclaim your space and do something to better or beautify the world with these eco-friendly ideas.
