The University of Minnesota, Duluth Office of Sustainability recently participated
in a very successful partnership with book re-use company A Greener Read. A
Greener Read collects books to be reused (i.e.; given to organizations that can
still use them) instead of recycling them right away; they only recycle the
most damaged and unusable copies. UMD was able to donate several thousand
pounds of books!
We interviewed Jason Burbul of A Greener Read, and Bryan French of the UMD Office of Sustainability. Here’s what they had to say about the partnership:
We interviewed Jason Burbul of A Greener Read, and Bryan French of the UMD Office of Sustainability. Here’s what they had to say about the partnership:
Jason Burbul:
Tell us about A Greener Read; how did it get started? Who do you provide books for?
A Greener Read is a book and used media reuse/recycling company. We started the business because we are book and culture nuts - we love the stuff that comes through our 24/7/365 recycling bins and warehouse! We saw that books and things like DVDs, video games, and CDs were being recycled through thrift stores and that they were being treated as a way to make money rather than a great form of art. Their "shelf life" was literally too short due to the thrift stores limited sales market. Once they sat on the thrift store shelf for a couple of weeks they were either recycled or added to the waste stream.
We saw an opportunity to bring recycled books to a larger market and to efficiently and ecologically recycle when necessary. We also observed that the recycling process could be improved for the individual looking to get their books moved along to the next person through 24/7/365 bins rather than retail hours in a Thrift Store.
Are you brick & mortar or online or both?
Once we made the decision to offer the 24/7/365 recycling bins we began to network with other green companies and quickly joined REUSE MN.org.
How did your partnership with UMD begin?
People in the reuse/recycle community let us know that there is a real need for a recycling company to focus on the reuse of books. We were put in contact with The University of MN at Duluth's Bryan French about the potential of having the Math Departments "old" books recycled. We were asked to come collect the books. Bryan was able to promote the idea to the faculty to the tune of 6,000 lbs. of books!
Where will the books from UMD go?
The books will be donated to Books For Africa and the Women's Prison Book Program. Books that the publishers require be recycled will be recycled. Some will be sold to offset the cost of collecting and sorting the items. Any books that fall outside of these categories will be given to Goodwill.
What else do you want the readers of this article to know about A Greener Read?
Reusing books is the greenest way to recycle unwanted books because it is using them for their intended purpose without adding any energy to recycling them. Our business is to get as many books as possible from people that no longer need them into the hands of the next person that can enjoy them.
Bryan French:
How did you link up with A Greener Read?
This is the first time we've done something like this. I was introduced to Jason from A Greener Read through the UMN Sustainability Services.
Where did all the books come from?
Staff and faculty from throughout the University of Minnesota Duluth campus donated the books.
What types of books are you donating?
We were only seeking textbooks, although a few people did donate their personal fiction and nonfiction books.
What's the quantity or weight of all the books?
The quantity actually ended up being 4,216 pounds. We based our original estimate of 6,000 lbs. on weighing a single stack, and then extrapolating for the rest.
Can the public also donate?
Although we didn't purposely limit donation to only from within UMD, we didn't spread the word farther, off campus. But yes, the public can donate.
What do you want people to know about this partnership or program?
As far as 'what I want people to know,' it's hard to say - this is the first time we've done this, and so we don't exactly have a long track record. And since this is the first time we've done something like this (that I've heard about), I don't think we'd be able to do it annually: some of the books we collected were decades old. I know that A Greener Read has a 'mailbox' style collection bin, which might be a better long-term strategy. I think putting the bin in place somewhere on campus is a good idea - we just haven't found that location yet.
Learn more and get involved with A Greener Read at http://www.agreenerread.com
