Comments on: How can I reuse or recycle old books?

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:38:02 +0000

I found something really neat
http://www.weupcycle.com/en/tag-249-notiz-igel/
Its a place to store papers in an old book…

By: Penny

Penny — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:58:47 +0000

I need to find a new home for my complete set of Encyclopaedia Britannica, bought in 1984. They are in very good condition but no one wants them.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:38:45 +0000

You are all angels. I have a huge stack of old programming books that have been gathering dust for 10 years, I now know what to do with them.
Thanks!

By: Emily Craig

Emily Craig — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:26:14 +0000

I have been using price comparison sites like http://www.thecollegetextbooks.net for buying my textbooks. It is better than going for standalone stores. As you can save on lot of money using them.

By: Sofia

Sofia — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 21:12:10 +0000

You could use them to build furniture.
Check out this great instructable on how to use books as table legs:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-table-legs-out-of-books/

By: HuntingWabbits

HuntingWabbits — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:32:41 +0000

In fair weather, put them outside your house. I’m sure SOMEONE will take them.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:09:58 +0000

Book-Cycle is an amazing route for your old books, it will house them in a free bookshop or else send them free to schools and orphanages in developing countries. they also plant trees around the U.K.

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 17:09:44 +0000

http://www.weswapbooks.com

A free to use book swapping community, great site.

By: iris

iris — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:50:41 +0000

I am an artist who specializes in recycling old books. I prefer working with those which are archaic. But for those with no interest in transforming the material, why not donate those books to primary school art classes or poorly-funded after school programs. The pages can be torn out, painted, used as floor protection during messy projects, or even used instead of origami paper or construction paper. The strange symbols might even spark an interest in those young minds… who knows!

By: Gill

Gill — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:57:29 +0000

Thank you, thank you. I’ve scoured google for this website. Had no idea what it was called but had read about the idea some time ago.

By: Glen

Glen — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 06:21:05 +0000

You can always donate them to a local charity or sell them to a site like

http://www.sellbackyourbook.com

Hope this helps,
Glen Nothnagel

By: Gulia

Gulia — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:57:32 +0000

Use them as bricks to build a column, or a wall. Cement them together, and plaster over.

Line them up on a floor of your attic for extra insolation.

They can be tied up together into big blocks to be used for building cheap houses, in the same way straw bales are used.

By: Collette

Collette — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:34:43 +0000

As a librarian, I have to say this one….try your local archive or public library. Now if they’re falling apart, I would just recycle the paper and cardboard, but some archivists especially might be interested in collecting info about technology and how fast it moves/develops at this point in history. Does anyone have a better idea for re-using old, outdated ex-library books (some of which are falling apart)? I’ve just been putting them in the dumpster, because no place around me recycles them.

By: Collette

Collette — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:33:39 +0000

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:07:34 +0000

A place like paperbackswap.com or bookcrossing.com would be a great option. Old training manuals may be useless, but there’s a collector out there for everything. Post ads on somewhere like craigslist to see if there are any takers. If they are truely obsolete and useless, they’ll find a happy home mixed with your newspapers on recycling day.

By: mormonsim

mormonsim — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:50:00 +0000

use some of the ideas and pictures in the book and your picture using the computer it was used for as a scrapbook page.

By: john

john — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 13:30:59 +0000

This guy makes a lamp shade out of an old book.

Cut a square out of the middle of the spine and mount a light fitting in there. Drill holes in the opposite sides, top and bottom. Thread string through the holes.

Mount the book fully open with it’s cover to the wall, spreading the pages evenly (the string holds them in place). Turn on light and see nice slotted light effect! Only use a low power bulb though to avoid fires!

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/960255/recycle_lamp_shade/

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 21:02:36 +0000

I love to decopage things, and the first thing that came to mind was to take out the pages and cover things! You could make wordy-looking (or nerdy-looking, if they’re tech books) treasure boxes, pencil holders, drawer organizers, Christmas ornaments… the possibilities are endless!

By: erin

erin — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:03:54 +0000

i was thinking the same thing! even the odd page or two from a book would make a nifty envelope or homemade card for a nerdy friend. :P

By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 06:43:01 +0000

Personally I ADORED these ideas !!!!
Check this website for shelves made out from old books….it’s awesome !!!
http://www.thisintothat.com/gallery/funniest.html#

By: Aine

Aine — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:48:30 +0000

Shoot Anonoymous stole my idea – bookcrossing.com is great for getting rid of books you don’t want – give them a happier life, with someone possibily more interested in them.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 23:46:43 +0000

http://www.paperbackswap.com

If you make an account, credit me please… musicallyminded@mail2musician.com

By: jodilee

jodilee — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 23:38:51 +0000

Tear out the pages and use it to paper a wall or notice board in an office/geek space. Or one wall of the toilet to amuse ‘sitters’
Cover an old ugly piece of furniture with the pages and then laquer in a clear sealant to ‘pimp’ up an otherwise boring, dated or plain ugly table or chest of drawers. I have seen this done with chinese newspapers and the football pink or the yellow Loot (free ads paper)Looks pretty cool and when you get fed up just stick on some new ones.

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:08:16 +0000

Give them to any artists you know for making homemade sketchbooks– just gesso over each page (opaquely or thinly– some people might like the words peeping through the art)and it’s clean to draw on.

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:49:51 +0000

You could hollow them out to create secret book hiding places. And really, the more obsolete the book, the safer your stashed treasures.

There are a few sets of instructions for making hollowed books at Onstructables: http://www.instructables.com/id/EOPFWWA9OLET2JYSTK/

By: Emily

Emily — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:19:20 +0000

Alter them! Paint, draw, doodle, glue “bits n pieces” in them… Crafty people might love one!

By: trish

trish — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 19:30:33 +0000

try and post them on amazon 1st. there are a lot of people who collect those, and some people might still find them useful, while somethings change, usually the basics stay the same

By: PrrlGrrl

PrrlGrrl — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:11:53 +0000

Depending on how thick the books are, you could stack two or more together and… upholster them!! When we were little children, my grandmother made us little sitting stools by anchoring four large, empty juice cans together and covering them with padding and fabric. She even sewed a flat handle across the top so they could be picked up and moved easily and still not interfere with the seating. Your books, of course, would be heavier than the cans, but it seems that they might still work well that way. Just one idea.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:54:21 +0000

wwww.bookcrossing.com

By: Bobbie

Bobbie — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:05:46 +0000

Depending on how “old” a computer book is, it might be of use to some museum. Many of the old computers are still out there and I believe they will be collected and of course will need manuals for both hardware and software.