Mission:
To keep still-usable textbooks containing relevant information from reaching landfills or being recycled.
Nuts and Bolts:
Every year schools update their textbooks to new editions. Some of these changes are necessary, as the world develops and new information is discovered. However, most of the time these new editions are unnecessary and provide little new information. Still, when they come out, school administrations tend to purchase the new editions, even if the old ones are still perfectly usable.
As a result, the “outdated” textbooks are either thrown in the trash or at best recycled. In cases where the books are falling apart, recycling is the best option; however, it still has an impact on the environment. Recycling usable textbooks can easily be avoided by finding them new homes where they can continue to be used to educate and teach.
We work with the School and Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education (SCARCE). Through SCARCE’s Book Rescue program, schools and organizations working with children can select any textbooks for free. Because their books come from schools discarding entire collections of outdated editions, they have “classroom quantities” of many textbooks, so schools with less funding for programs and materials can receive an entire collection for specific programs.
Impact:
To date, Books4Cause has donated over twenty thousand books to the Books4Teachers program through SCARCE.