What's the proper way to get rid of books?

BurningnnTree@lemmy.one to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 80 points –

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Signed, someone who had to deal with a slew of outdated guidebooks, encyclopedias, cookbooks, reader's digest issues, never-read novels and whatever else from a deceased relative because they just couldn't bring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

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

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.

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.

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