Antonia Devereux shows you some of the best places to get your latest read, while saving your pocket and the planet!
Fossgate Books – Credit: Antonia Devereux
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library”.
The quote above is from my favourite book, Pride and Prejudice, second only to the 2005 movie rendition, which if you know me I have most definitely made you watch. Although Caroline Bingley doesn’t mean a single word, I myself will be miserable if my future home doesn’t have a very expansive bookshelf. But with books a little too expensive for the student budget and a trip to Waterstones costing the majority of your student loan, it is a difficult task. On top of this, 640,000 tons of books are sent to the landfill annually, but buying second-hand can help to reduce this book by book! To help you save your pocket and the planet, I introduce the best places to get second-hand books so you can work towards your very own library.
Credit: Antonia Devereux
World of Books only sells second-hand copies, with a variety of quality depending on how much you want to spend. Any books which have had too many lives and aren’t suitable for sellers are recycled. WoB is certified B-Corp and reports on their sustainability and ethics, working with charities and stakeholders rather than just shareholders.
I recently bought 3 second-hand books from WoB for just £10: Where the Crawdads Sing, Grown Ups, and The Salt Path.
Better World Books offers new and second-hand books, with profits from every book sold going to education programmes across the world. Like WoB, no books are thrown away and any which cannot be sold are recycled.
Not all of Bilbo’s books are affordable, but they are sustainable. Specialising in rare and old books, there are some amazing copies up for grabs. But for those like me (which I imagine is quite a lot) and can’t afford to spend 3 grand on a signed copy, they do also have second-hand books up for grabs!
Minister Bookshop – Credit: Antonia Devereux
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