The EcoCentre has become a collection centre for dropping off the books you no longer need but would be enjoyed by someone else.
Most of us love a good book, but what happens to the book when we have finished reading it? In many cases it is probably packed into storage, gathering dust on the shelf or thrown out in the rubbish.
Sustainable Insight, an online sustainability and environmental bookstore, has taken an active step to extend the life-cycle of these books by launching ReRead, a new national book reuse and recycling program.
The aim of ReRead is to provide better resource management of books, by providing books donated by the public to charities, schools and not-for-profit organisations who are in need of resources for their libraries and education programs.
Only books that are badly damaged and deteriorated beyond repair, will be recycled through an appropriate paper recycling service; thus, reducing the number of books ending up in landfill.
Initially, one of the recipients of ReRead donations will be the Ghana Literacy Project. This is a not-for-profit project, which is collecting funds and resources to build a community resource centre and school in Pokuase, Ghana.
To make book donations to the program Sustainable Insight has partnered with a number of environmental organisations including the EcoCentre and the EPA Victoria to place collection boxes in more central locations for the public to visit and deposit their books. Locations currently exist in South-East Queensland and Victoria, but plans are in place to establish collection points in each state.
A full list of drop off centres can be viewed here.
Those who support ReRead will not only be contributing towards providing books to those who need them most, but also helping to conserve the environment.