Buying Gifts That Give More

I love Christmas here more so than where I am from (Hong Kong) because you really feel the love of giving in the air. I have been thinking about what gifts to give people that doesn't increase waste (because people have so much unused material goods), that doesn't cost too much (because of the financial crisis), that speaks to that person's values (to show them that you know them well), and also that can give more than that person. I'm going to try and post one good social venture a day:

Better World Books- Better World Books is a for-profit social enterprise that collects used books and sells them online to raise money for literacy initiatives worldwide.

1. Good for your wallet: Better World Books is the only online bookstore that offers FREE shipping anywhere in the US. All other online books costs around $3.50 for standard shipping. (Amazon costs $3.99 per book, Abebooks $3.00, and chegg.com charges $5.39). How do they offer free shipping, while others aren't able to? They use the local post office system versus FedEx, UPS etc.
   
2. Good for the environment: Better World Books provides an alternative to people who might just throw their books out. This is their main business model. They support book drives, and collects used books and textbooks through a network of over 1,800 college campuses and partnerships with over 2,000 libraries nationwide. So far, the company has converted more than 25 million donated books into $7.3 million in funding for literacy and education, which might have otherwise been thrown out (I know from experience as a college student watching books get thrown out at the end of the year). They have diverted more than 13,000 tons of books from landfills. However, I heard from some people that it's better to get donations and purchase the books locally instead of shipping donated books to the developing country. Because 1) it takes a lot of fuel to ship books and 2) the books might not be relevant to the people who are receiving it. They try to reduce the environmental impact of shipping by shipping in bulk. They try to sell the books first, if not, then they find which of their 5 literacy partners would find the book most useful, if not, they recycle the book.
   
3. Donate portion of their profit to help nonprofits promoting literacy worldwide. But what percentage of their profits?

For more information see an interview on the co-founder of Better World Books at: http://www.greenbusinessinnovators.com/interview-xavier-helgesen-better-world-books