Recycling, by the Book
Cleaning out your bookcase doesn’t have to mean creating waste and methane emissions from landfills. The Eco-Cycle/City of Boulder Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM) goes beyond recycling books—we rehome them!
The US is among the top largest markets for books in the world, second only to China. Over one-third of Americans report keeping 50 or more books in their homes, with 7% owning 500 or more books! When making room on our bookshelves, we typically discard some old books by donating or gifting them to friends and family. Even so, an estimated 320 million books are sent to landfills in the US each year, adding to America’s problem with waste, resource depletion, and climate change.
The Environmental Cost of Landfilling Books
When books are thrown away rather than donated or recycled, the trees, water, and energy used in their production are wasted. Producing paper for books consumes vast amounts of resources, including over 9.5 million gallons of water and 32,600 trees to make 1 million books. For the 320 million books landfilled in the US each year, that equates to over 3 billion gallons of water and over 10.4 million trees going to waste in the trash!
The environmental costs don’t end there. Once in landfills, books also contribute to methane emissions. When organic material (like paper) decomposes without oxygen in a landfill, it creates methane, a potent greenhouse gas with a warming potential 84 times greater than carbon dioxide. The decomposition process in landfills is slow, so landfilled books can release methane for decades!
The Challenge of Recycling Books
Unlike newspapers, magazines, mail, and office paper, books are typically not recyclable in your curbside bin. Why? The glues, inks, mixed materials, and coatings found in many books create recycling challenges. Additionally, the paper in many books, especially mass-market paperbacks, is made from low-quality fibers that are too short to be recycled (similar to paper towels and napkins). Hardcover book covers are especially problematic for recycling because they may contain non-recyclable materials like cloth or plastic. These covers require manual removal, which can be time- and labor-intensive.
Reusing and Recycling Books in Boulder County
At the Eco-Cycle/City of Boulder Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM), we’ve been accepting books for 20 years. Simply bring your books to our book drop, and our staff will identify books that can be redistributed to organizations in our community—including local schools! Those books that cannot be reused and reread are recycled as cellulose insulation in the next chapter of their lives.
Eco-Cycle’s “CHaRMed Books Program” returns gently used books brought to the CHaRM to local teachers, students, and families at schools in underserved and under-resourced communities. These books are available free of charge, and are often used as prizes and rewards for students. Last year, we redistributed over 4,000 books throughout Boulder and Broomfield Counties!
How you can help “turn the page” on wasted books:
- Bring your unwanted books to the Eco-Cycle CHaRM, located at 6400 Arapahoe Road in Boulder! Deposit your books in our weather-resistant book drop, and our staff will sort through them, recycling those that are no longer usable, and rehoming all other books! Please only drop off books that are clean, dry, and free of mold. (Note: A $3 facility use fee applies per vehicle.)
- Become a CHaRMed Books Program volunteer! Volunteers help sort, process, and redistribute used children’s books to students at local schools in under-resourced communities during the school year. Ideally, volunteers would be available for one day every two weeks for a couple of hours between 9 am and 5 pm. If you are interested in an opportunity to support Eco-Cycle’s CHaRMed Books project, email [email protected]!
- Donate to support our CHaRMed Books Program! With foundational funding for our CHaRMed Books Program from our partners at Elevations Credit Union, we’re starting the school year strong! However, your support allows us to distribute more books to more local schools, free of charge. Donate to this program here (be sure to type “books” in the “Donation dedication” field.
Let’s work together to close the book on waste—one recycled or rehomed book at a time—because every book deserves a second chapter!
