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)

  • Silver Golden
    link
    fedilink
    English
    551 year ago

    if they are of decent quality a snd hand book store might take them

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    411 year ago

    Check with your local library or schools to see if they accept book donations. If not, there are probably a few secondhand bookstores near you that will buy some of them from you.

    • @PostmodernPythia
      link
      English
      241 year ago

      Please check first and accept their answer if it’s a no! Do not dump your 1991 NatGeos without asking. Love, Librarians

      • PhillyCodeHound
        link
        English
        31 year ago

        Especially Nat Geos. Those things are valuable.

        • BNE
          link
          fedilink
          English
          31 year ago

          Really? I never knew - are people starting to warm up on collecting Natgeos or has this been a thing around your neck of the woods/world for a while?

          • @T156
            link
            English
            21 year ago

            I believe that may be sarcasm.

            • BNE
              link
              fedilink
              English
              21 year ago

              That’d be right, lol - thanks for the help parsing the context, I really did just assume it was earnest

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      41 year ago

      This is the best way in my experience; I was able to get rid of over 20 filing boxes of books this way while helping my folks downsize their collection. It’s a small way to support your local library system, and I’ve had some excellent finds at thrift book stores/library sales over the years so it’s nice to contribute to that as well

  • PhillyCodeHound
    link
    English
    291 year ago

    Donate them to the library or used bookstore

  • @Fartbutt
    link
    English
    25
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    I don’t have a direct answer, but I will say be careful about giving them to Goodwill or what-have-you, or at least check first. I donated a mound of great contemporary books and the guy receiving them said they throw out anything that has marks on the page side or any wear on the cover.

    Not to say all thrift shops toss them, but some do.

    Edit: Look for local “free libraries”! Some cities will have random little boxes put up around neighbourhoods, and those won’t get scrapped.

  • @SWIM
    link
    English
    171 year ago

    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.

    • @Bakachu
      link
      English
      41 year ago

      Love these! We have one in my neighborhood and it’s pretty convenient to drop off my read pile in there.

  • ed_cock
    link
    fedilink
    16
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    it’s bad juju to throw books in the trash right?

    The books you are talking about are mass produced commodity items, right? If you don’t want them anymore and don’t know anyone else who does just treat them like any other print product and toss 'em out. They weren’t painstakingly copied by monks, the knowledge inside will not be lost, just being a book doesn’t make them special.

    Signed, someone who had to deal with a slew of outdated guidebooks, encyclopedias, cookbooks, reader’s digest issues, never-read novels and whatever else from a deceased relative because they just couldn’t bring themselves to put them in the recycling bin.

    • mohKohn
      link
      fedilink
      161 year ago

      just … bring them to a library or thrift store… they’re better at figuring out what’s actually valuable

      • ed_cock
        link
        fedilink
        5
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        If you have one nearby then maybe, but I bet you even they don’t want that slightly water damaged, smelly copy of some cheapo 80s encyclopedia.

        Around here it’s also relatively common to sell old books by weight/volume, either on flea markets or classifieds/Ebay. But sometimes it literally isn’t worth the effort.

      • @macrocephalic
        link
        21 year ago

        My local thrifty shop had a pallet of assorted books and you can fill a bag for $5. I think of it like a lazy person’s library, I get a bunch of books, pay my dues, and then return them when I’m done.

  • @Rosriv
    link
    English
    151 year ago

    I’d definitely recommend just leaving them in a book box. The concept is easy: leave a book, take a book. But there’s nothing saying you can’t just leave book. Don’t have one nearby? Create one. 🥰

  • @RightHandOfIkaros
    link
    English
    111 year ago

    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.

  • @satanmat
    link
    English
    91 year ago

    Do your best impression of a Christian Nationalist and have a book burning.

  • @ThirdNerd
    link
    English
    9
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    deleted by creator

  • @ABCDE
    link
    English
    81 year ago

    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.

    • HipPriest
      link
      fedilink
      41 year ago

      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

  • @CoffeeJunkie
    link
    English
    61 year ago

    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.