Is It Ok To Throw Away Books?

Books are an important part of life and most people enjoy reading them.

Sometimes though, disposing of them is something that some people consider.

Of course there are various reasons for this and people’s motivations are different.

One of the questions that I encountered from an online reading platform basically asked whether it’s OK to throw books away.

The simple truth is, everyone has a different answer to this because people are different.

Therefore there is really no specific answer that is better than the other because preferences and situations are different for everyone.

However, this post will discuss the discarding of books to shed some light on the overall topic.

With that said, is it OK to throw away books?

Throwing books away is okay if you have no use for them or are simply too damaged to serve any actual purpose. However, you’re better off giving away or donating a book or books in a usable state because this way it can provide some sort of value to others.

Be it entertainment or knowledge. An Eco-friendly way of disposing a book is simply recycling it so new paper can be made from it.

Best ways to dispose of books

Let’s get into some good ways to dispose of books or simply get rid of them if you no longer have a use for them.

Give them to a friend

One way to get rid of books is to give them to a friend that may enjoy them.

This is a more productive way of getting rid of books that you no longer want.

Rather than simply throwing them away, find somebody that would appreciate a good book or good books and give it to them.

This is one way of doing it.

Donate them to a library

Libraries are basically all about books. They rely on them to stay operational.

However, Not all libraries have every book out there which is why they’ll be more than happy to gets some books off your hands.

All you have to do is get in touch with your local library and then discuss your plans of donation to their collection.

With some libraries it may be easy to donate, it may be harder to donate to others.

A formal inspection of the books that you donate has to be obviously carried out in order to ensure that the book that does not belong to a person other than you.

Sell them

Why throw away your books when you can sell them and make a quick buck?

Selling books that you have no use for can be a great way to make some money that you can spend on new books.

A simple book auction at home can help you get some decent people coming in to check out the books you have.

on the other hand, If you’re tech-savvy , you can try and sell your books on EBAY or any other online platform that can allow you to do so.

Recycle them

Recycling is more applicable to books that you basically deem unusable. It is quite an eco friendly way of going about things like disposal.

If you don’t know what happens during the process of recycling, don’t worry I’ll provide a brief background.

Recycling paperbacks usually involves turning your old book pages into new and usable paper.

The process basically involves mixing the book pages with water and then creating a somewhat pulp… this is done to get rid of the ink on the paper.

Once this is done, the pulp is spread out on screens so it can dry up and then be used to make new paper.

Donate them to a charity

Charities are great organisations  useful when a person wishes to donate or get rid of any stuff.

Books can really help less fortunate people that simply cannot afford books.

Imagine how good you’d feel knowing that you didn’t throw away a book ..but instead donated it to a charity that would allow the less fortunate to read and learn from the books.

Donations to charity are pretty much easy to do and all it takes is usually reaching out to them.

If you have a collection of books that you want to get rid of, even better.

The more, the merrier.

Donate them to a prison

Prisons are always in desperate need of books because they do not really get prioritised…

People serving time usually find solace in books. Therefore donating your books to a prison could just save somebody’s life.

You can easily get in contact with a prison near you and get a good idea of how donations of books can be made.

Of course it may be a long process but you have to understand that, with prisons, security is of the utmost importance.

Which is why it may be difficult to make a donation to them.

However, it’s better to wait and donate the books rather than throw them away.

Is it illegal to throw away a book?

It’s not illegal to throw away books but it is not an effective way of getting rid of them.

You’re better off giving them away or donating them so some use can be gotten out of them.

However you’re at liberty to throw them away if you don’t find any other Effective way of getting rid of them.

Howevee, the reading community heavily frowns upon the idea of a person throwing away books.

Is it a sin to throw away a book?

If you buy a book you basically own it and nobody can take that ownership away from you unless you ultimately sell the book to another person..

What you choose to do with a book that you own is entirely up to you. Therefore throwing away a book is obviously not a sin.

Conclusion

People basically lead different lives and may find themselves faced with the decision of getting rid of things like books.

Its definitely okay to throw away books that you have no use for but it is more efficient to give the books away, sell them or donate them to people that could find them useful.

There various places you can donate books and I’ve discussed some of these places in this post.

Related Article You Can Read

Is Reading Books A Waste Of Time?

Additional Helpful Resources

It’s Okay to Recycle Unwanted Books – Book Riot

Is it a Sin to Throw a Book Away? | Elizabeth Camden

Ridiculously Practical Ways to Recycle Books – GreenCitizen

How to Recycle Books & Magazines – Earth911

30+ Ways To Responsibly Dispose Of Old Books – Honestly Modern

4 Ways to Get Rid of Old Books – wikiHow Life