Change is Good

In my quest to live conscientiously and do no harm (accompanied by the great desire to clear out my bookshelf!), I've been a huge advocate of Swaptree lately. I don't recall where I first heard about it (actually, I didn't even remember the name and it took a vague key word Google search to stumble upon the site), but it is an interface that facilitates trading amongst strangers of unwanted books, CDs and video games - for free.

Brilliant!

I have always been an acquisitive magpie when it comes to books; in fact, I've never come across a book I didn't want to keep - regardless of whether I actually liked the book or have any intention of reading it. For instance, I fished Bachelorette #1 by Jennifer O'Connell out of a community bin in my apartment building and I admit I did read it once (of course I did; I read the backs of cereal boxes if there is nothing else to read!), but I won't ever read it again and it mortifies me that it sits on my bookshelf. But there it sat... for two years.

Have you ever heard of a "groaning table"? Well, my bookshelf groans. It has been groaning for a good long while. I hardened my heart on Memorial Day and decided to do something about it.

Swaptree allows you to input the items that you have in your possession and would like to trade. Then, you input the items that you would like to obtain. Something magical happens in cyberspace, and you are informed of the thousands of items that you can trade your junk for!

I'm in the process of trading two awful books for two Harry Potter books that I haven't read yet. I thought that it would be nice if I included a bookmark when I ship the books to their new owners.

I'm patting myself on the back for thinking of using this particular stamp. "Change is good" - uh, YEAH, we're all swapping our junk for something we actually want; it's a win-win situation!

(Disclaimer: Life of Pi is not junk. I just used it as a model since

I'm too embarrassed to show you the book I actually traded.)

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Check out Swaptree.

ETA: Swaptree was acquired by Swap.com in July, and now they have different rules. I think there is a charge to use the site now. Not sure.