During an exercise in privilege, a teacher asked us to step forward from a line if a certain sentence applied to us. Some were about race (“Take a step forward if skin toned bandaids match your skin tone.”), some were about socio-economic class (“Take a step forward for every car your family owned before you turned 18.”), but there was one that stuck with me because the privilege it implied felt far more ambiguous:
“Take a step forward if your childhood home had more than 10 books.”
Books were–and are–a major part of my identity.
So much so that I can’t imagine what my life would be like today if I had come from a family that couldn’t afford books or didn’t value and celebrate reading.
I was that weird kid at camp who spent her free time reading in her bunk. I spent my middle school summers walking to the Barnes and Noble to read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. In high school, I went to the Borders (Rest in Peace) release parties for Harry Potter and Twilight. I wasn’t fooling anyone with my “undeclared” status freshman year of college before declaring an English major. For my 18th birthday, my mom got me tickets to have lunch with Ann Brashares, beginning my love for author events. After graduation I joined my friend’s literary magazine where I got to routinely geek out blog-style about my favorite authors like Kafka and Patti Smith. Every year (including today), I participate in National Novel Writing Month.
You could say that books define where I’ve been and where I’m going. Ergo, I define myself by a privilege.
It’s a curse to be defined by things, even when societal and personal constructs associate them with so many good things: intelligence, wisdom, an expansive world view, creative inspiration, time well spent…
It’s especially inconvenient when you’re trying to live and promote a lifestyle based on the rejection of unnecessary objects. Even though I want to live waste-free, I still have fantasies of owning a library complete with a ladder on wheels. However, I’m trying to come to terms with the idea that owning towers of books isn’t the end-all-be-all of my happiness.
In the past year, I’ve sold or donated about two thirds of my belongings that I deemed unnecessary. Yet I still have an entire bookcase full of books. Turns out I can’t bring myself to abandon them and today I’d like to discuss why and what zero wasters can do if they have a book addiction like me.
What About eBooks and Audio Books?
You know how there are three types of learners, visual, auditory, and tactile? Well, what is reading but absorbing and processing information? While visual learners may be fine with eBooks or auditory learners with audio books, tactile learners like me appreciate the heft of a solid book. The feel of the paper. The rhythm of turning pages. Underlining a powerful phrase or putting hearts next to a favorite passage makes it all the more vivid in my mind.
So while I can listen to a story or read it on my Kindle, I don’t enjoy it as much as reading a physical book. And honestly I don’t remember it as well.
What About Libraries?
I got library fines out the wah-zoo and frankly, I’m too afraid to go back. Also they yell at you if you write in their books.
But don’t worry. There’s still hope for us.
My Guide for Zero Waste Book Lovers:
In general, I treat my book collection like a minimalist’s capsule wardrobe. It’s all about self control, finding real joy in what you own, and knowing when to let go.
1. Only buy books you plan to read immediately.
Readers are prone to snatch up any book that they want to read someday. Even if you have nothing better to do but read books til you die, your glasses might break. And even if you don’t need glasses, you’ll never be able to read all of the books you want to read. There’s just too much good stuff out there.
The books you buy with the intent of reading them someday will most likely just collect dust, take over all the surfaces of your home, or never be opened. Buying books and reading them immediately keeps this exponential pattern from happening.
In addition, having the self control to forego a book until you finish the one you already own can save book lovers a ton of money when we walk through a bookstore.
2. Only keep books you plan on re-reading (or at least referencing).
Otherwise, why are you keeping them? Is it a superficial reason, like wanting to impress people by the sheer number of books you’ve read? Get a Goodreads account and bask in your glory online. Does it have sentimental value? I have a document in my Dropbox where I keep track of the books I’ve liked by taking a photo and writing a brief account of what the book meant to me. But as you can see from the photo below, I still keep the books that I read over and over again (or I lend out to friends over and over again) in my personal collection.
3. Confine yourself to a specific amount of book space and don’t exceed it.
Okay, so there’s a chance that you re-read or reference a lot of books. Limiting the amount of space you dedicate to books means considering every book you own and prioriti
zing the ones that really matter.
Personally, I’ve found it helpful to only own books that can fit on a single bookcase. The one pictured on the right, to be exact. Not only is it the bookcase that my dad made for me (sentimental value points), but even when it’s completely packed with books, I can fit everything into 6 medium packing boxes or less. That’s especially helpful if you move a lot like me.
4. Never EVER throw out a book.
I shudder to think some people don’t consider this practice common sense. Didn’t I just say that books were a privilege? And you’re just gonna cast them away into nothingness? There are so many people that can benefit from your cast offs, so donate your books to:
- Underfunded schools or libraries, especially if they’re centered in STEM, classics, or considered children’s or “young adult” fiction…whatever that means.
- Teachers: they often build professional libraries and lend books out to their students or other faculty.
- Take-a-Book, Leave-a-Book: You can usually find them at cafes or hotels, but I’ve even seen Little Free Libraries around town.
- Goodwill, Salavation Army, and other thrift stores.
- Artists: a lot of modern artists use print in their works.
No, It’s Not the Perfect Zero Waste Solution
But it’s helped me reduce the number of books I buy and discard and it’s helped me manage my zero waste budget. So there’s still some good in that.