The library promotes sustainability by recycling books we no longer need through a socially conscious redistributor. The books which have a useful life outside the library are sent to Better World Books for resale or redistribution. Better World Books collects and sells books online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide, which was named BusinessWeek‘s Most Promising Social Venture with 36 percent of the vote out of 25 semi-finalists.
To this point, Puget Sound has saved the equivalent of 55 40’ tall trees! In the last 4 months, we earned over $260 to spend on new materials for the students and faculty of Puget Sound. Another positive aspect of recyling this way is that we automatically donate a portion of the resale money to Room to Read, a not-for-profit project which works mostly in India, Africa and Asia to promote education and reading in children. Additionally, for those materials not accepted by Better World Books, we are working with the university’s facilities department to send them to a local recycler which either resells them or converts them to paper pulp for reuse.