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)

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    Signed, someone who had to deal with a slew of outdated guidebooks, encyclopedias, cookbooks, reader’s digest issues, never-read novels and whatever else from a deceased relative because they just couldn’t bring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

  • CoffeeJunkie@lemmy.world
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    1 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.

  • SirElliott@lemmy.ml
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    1 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@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

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

    • DonnieDarkmode@lemm.ee
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      1 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

  • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    We accepted the bad juju and burned the nazi apologia we found in my grandmother’s abusive husband’s (that’s as close as I’m willing to admit being related to that shit) library, but other than that if you want the least effort just drop off a bag of books on the library’s doorstep in the middle of the night with a fiver and a note apologizing.

    • Tangent5280@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That image is pretty funny - dropping off books like an unwanted newborn on the church steps, tearfully saying goodbye, telling the books that the nice people inside will take better care of them than you ever could…

  • Wren 🌙@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 year ago

    Some libraries take book donations (either for adding to the collection, or for book sales), little free libraries (you can find local ones here), ‘Friends of the Library’ will sell them and donate the proceeds to the library, second hand book shops, thrift shops, charity shops, and of course there’s always throwing them out.

  • Fartbutt@lemmy.world
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    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.