Save Orphaned Books! And Recycle! And Brush Your Teeth!

By Alicia Dorr in Miscellaneous on Nov 2, 2006 3:46PM

Recycling rules, everyone knows that. We like to see people recycling all manner of things. But when we read that libraries are sending books to the recycling center in Woodstock, we couldn't help but wonder - isn't there a better way to recycle a book?

Don't get us wrong. We know there are tons of out of date, out of style and just plain out of sorts books out there. But we still felt a little bad when we heard that libraries, god bless 'em, have to send boxes of unneeded and unwanted books to the recycling center, enough of them to warrant a closedown of the center while the workers attempt to deal with the piles. Poor little orphans.

The good thing, though, is that the recycling center is having an annual book sale beginning Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm and continuing every Saturday through May. The McHenry County Defenders, a not-for-profit group that runs the center also sells tons of other stuff that gets thrown in with the recycling at its resale shop. So if you can get out there for a day, why not?

And if you can't, it couldn't hurt to look around at some of the recycling opportunities in the city. The Chicago Recycling Coalition has a list of places an individual or business can haul stuff, as well as a rundown of what can be recycled and how. The city's new pilot program is aimed at swapping the corruption surrounding the ill-fated blue bags for a new hope - curbside recycling bins, which could make it a lot easier for you to recycle. In the meantime it's always good to know your options.

Image via money.org.