A little more about reusing… When it comes to the 3 R’s, the priority of our actions should be first to reduce. As I blogged about last week, reducing our consumption is the optimal choice for supporting a more sustainable planet. Next best to reducing consumption, is reusing that which already exists. Reusing is preferable to recycling because the product doesn’t need to be reprocessed before it can be used again. (Recycling is still important in our efforts to reduce waste–so watch for more about recycling in the coming days.) In reusing, less energy is expended and atmospheric byproducts are not created. Reusing items in new ways (as I posted yesterday) or sharing what we no longer want or need with others also creates an affordable and often free supply of fine–and even excellent–quality goods and materials. Something that is no longer necessary in our lives may be appreciated beyond measure by someone else!
There are many ways to give away, trade or sell what we no longer need–neighborhood newspapers and community boards, lawn signs as well as word of mouth all work well for letting others know locally that we have items we wish to pass on. When we want to reach a broader audience, online services are a great way to spread the word. Online resources such as eBay and CraigsList provide a wonderful forum for advertising items we wish to sell. They’re also great resources when we’re in the market to purchase something. In addition to these two sites, there are many other online organizations and forums for buying, selling, or trading products. I like to think of them as regional and worldwide flea markets!
Another reason reusing is a better choice than recycling is that some items are best left in their original state–in my opinion, books fall into this category! One of those wonderful online resources available to us is specifically for book lovers around the globe. Since books are so significant in my life, and because of the way this organization circulates books, I’ve chosen to focus on BookCrossing.com to highlight just how creative our reuse efforts can be.
As stated on their website, BookCrossing.com was started by “Ron Hornbaker back in March of 2001, as he and his wife Kaori were admiring the PhotoTag.org site, which tracks disposable cameras loosed into the wild. He already knew about the popularity of WheresGeorge.com (which tracks U.S. currency by serial number), and that got him thinking: what other physical object might people enjoy tracking? A few minutes later, after a glance at his full bookshelf, the idea of tracking books occurred to him. After two hours of research on the Internet, Ron realized, to his surprise, that nothing like BookCrossing had been done on any significant scale. And so they went to work. By 3 A.M. that morning, they had decided on the name (zero hits for “bookcrossing” on Google), registered the domain, and Kaori had sketched the running book logo on a crossing sign. The rest was merely execution.”
The website was launched on April 17, 2001. Initially, members joined at a rate of about 100 per month. In March, 2002, a Book magazine article was published and since then, membership has risen exponentially along with more media focus and features. BookCrossing’s website reports on their home page 854,274 current members in 130 countries and 6,246,706 books currently in circulation as they move towards their goal to make the “whole world a library.” They further state on their website that BookCrossing has “captured the passion and imagination of people worldwide who help spread the bounty of books through www.bookcrossing.com.” Read and Release! is their motto.
So just how is this done? Once you’ve read a book (or decided you’ll never read it) and you’re ready to let it go, as a member of BookCrossing–after following some very simple steps–you are ready to release your book into circulation (this is the really fun part of the process!). A highlight of the steps is as follows: Register your book with BookCrossing and generate an ID (called a BCID). Write that BCID in ink inside the cover. Add a label or write the BookCrossing info. You can add some additional markings, stickers, notes, etc., to make the book noticeable.
Releasing the book is where your creativity and imagination can get going! Here’s a brief description of possible places to release your books: “The list where books can be left or released is really limitless.You can release them at cafes, restaurants, coffee houses, those newspaper boxes for free papers, a bus, hospitals, doctor’s offices, anywhere people have to wait, on top of ATM’s, the DMV, museums, park benches, gyms, etc. And that’s just the beginning!!! Check the Release Techniques and Activists forums for more ideas.
“We encourage you to use common sense when releasing books. In other words, don’t leave them where they might be considered a security risk, and don’t leave adult material where a child could easily find it. Be careful about releasing books where books are sold–we don’t want anyone to find one of our books and be accused of shoplifting! We want everyone to learn about BookCrossing, and always come away with a favorable opinion of us.”
There are ways to track your book so you can see where it travels. You can include a note, such as the following one, to follow its journey: “I’ve registered this book at BookCrossing.com so I can track its journey through this world. Please go to www.BookCrossing.com/123-456789 to let me know you found it, then read it and/or pass it on for someone else to enjoy. Thank you!”
The idea of books going to those who most need them is such a wonderfully creative and intuitive one. I wonder how often someone finds a book and exclaims that this is just the book they’ve been wanting to read. Imagine how many smiles we can bring by participating in such a loving project! And…imagine one day walking up to your car and finding propped against your windshield the very book you’ve had on your wish list! Endless possibilities! Endless gifts!
