October Book Drive by gentle books at Garage Society

gentle books, a platform co-founded by former Garager Jessica Cheung is on a mission - to to share, exchange and celebrate books.

Dive into their vision below and explore four of the why’s behind establishing a platform to drive the circular economy around books.

You can find donation points throughout October at Garage Sai Ying Pun, Sheung Wan and Wan Chai Lockhart. So swing by with your books - you can find out more details about how to donate at the end of the article!

Why secondhand books?

Our vision at gentle books is simple: access, sustainability, and literacy. We’re booklovers ourselves, and it pains us to see books go to waste. We created gentle books as a space to share, exchange, and celebrate books. 

Make reading sustainable 

Within the paper and pulp industry, books are the third largest greenhouse gas emitter. An estimated 5 billion books are printed each year, with a carbon footprint of 3 kg CO2 each. That’s around 15 billion kg of CO2.

Buying second hand books reduces demand for paper production and saves books from going to landfill. There are plenty of existing books in the world looking for second homes, waiting to be read.

Declutter responsibly 

Books don't belong in landfills! However, an estimated 7.9 million books end up in landfills in Hong Kong alone.

It’s tempting to think that since books are made of paper, they should be recyclable. However, many paper recycling plants are not equipped to handle books—they must strip out the glue, binding, and then pulp and potentially bleach books in order to make them recyclable. Did you know: yellowed books can spoil the recycling pot?

Give back to the community 

All books deserve a second life.

Many people actively look for ways to donate their pre-loved books, but few actually take action. One thing that stops them is the unknown of where their book is going, and who is going to benefit from it. Books are inherently special. They make us think, feel, reflect, and have the power to shape our perspectives and lives. People want to know that the book they are donating is going to a person who will appreciate, cherish and enjoy the stories within as much as they have. 

Through our bookselling experience, we’ve been delighted to see new conversations and ideas come out from people browsing through our selection of books. Books are an amazing avenue for us to connect and relate with one another. 

Help increase access for others 

Literacy is one of the world’s biggest challenges, exacerbated by the recent years of covid-19. Increased literacy and access to education helps lift individuals out of poverty, spurs economic development, social mobility, and empowers women—key members of our society.

At gentle books, we donate 20% of our profits to room to read, a leading nonprofit for children’s literacy and girls’ education across Asia and Africa.

How to donate

For the month of October, gentle books is working with a number of partners including Garage Society to make donation boxes accessible across Hong Kong. Find donation points at Garage Sheung Wan, Sai Ying Pun and Wan Chai Lockhart. Details on donations below!

gentle books accepts almost all English books in good condition. We will happily help re-home books that: 

• are whole and intact,
• don’t have ripped covers/pages,
• don’t have water damage,
• aren’t marked up in pen, and
• sorry, no textbooks!

To log your donation and receive book credit, please send us a message on instagram or whatsapp +852 6799 0171 with the following details so we can log your store credit:

• photo of books donated if possible
• number of books donated
• your full name
• your email

Key Links:

• Instagram: instagram.com/gentlebooksco 

• Donation Locations: gentlebooks.co/donate

• Web Shop: gentlebooks.co