Renting College Books: Greenwash or Green Choice?

when i was an undegraduate student (pre-2000) i tried to build a web database where students could buy/sell their books to each other and bypass the evil bookstores. the university refused to endorse, support, host, or acknowledge my plan. the reason was this simple calculation:

1. assume 10,000 students buy/sell used books each semester at evil bookstore
2. assume 1 book each for average 3 classes/student
3. assume average "buy back" price $30
4. assume average "used" sell price is $80

buy back = 10,000 x 3 x $30 = $900,000
sell used = 10,000 x 3 x $80 = $2,400,000

so evil bookstore makes $1,500,000 every semester for holding books on their shelves during 3 weeks between semesters. and that's why school likes the evil bookstore, it's huge revenue.

so buy used or renting, it's all evil. if universities wanted to be green, they'd allow students to use craigslist type system (but designed specifically so students could find the correct book for their class). or better yet, when are we going etextbook? i've been reading news and pdfs more regularly on my laptop, and have found the greatest hurdle is the change in interface, rather than convenience. in fact i seem to share more info with collegues and friends with electronic format since it's so easy.

well, chegg.com plants a tree for every textbook you rent....so not only do you supposedly save a tree by renting the book, but another one gets planted

If you're willing to spend a lot of time in the library, a lot of teachers will put one copy of the textbook on reserve (so you can check it out for 2? hours within the library). I go to a tech school and quite a few books are completely online for students that go here.
I personally like a book that I can hold and carry around, so I usually buy my books. I think it works out best if you can trade or sell to people at your own college. Then you don't get ripped off by the bookstore and you don't have to feel the guilt of shipping 5 individual books to get a cheaper price.

I really don't understand why we're not using ebooks by now. Beyond that my comment doesn't stray far from Kenny's. As I too "rented", purchased and sold back, many a book from the campus store. In addition to purchasing used books from the same store.

Not greenwashing, but a bit silly to be honest. Just as you stated, most students buy the book and then sell it back for 75% of the original price. I think online book resellers are more green, because they ensure that if a book isn't being used at one University anymore, students at another university in North America can buy it. No books getting down-cycled into post-consumer paper products!

This year I've got two science classes where the professors have decided not to use new text books. My genetics course specifically asked students to buy a used book because the prof thought the book company was being "too greedy" with their pricing, and my Ecology prof hated the "Human Impact on the Environment" section of the old text book because it was dated and full of political rhetoric.

This idea of renting book or other stuff has already been running in Malaysia. Please visit Stufftolet Malaysia to post the book you wanna rent out or to search for book you wanna rent to save $$$ !

A quick comparison with the first academic book on my desk ...

The Past is a Foreign Country by David Lowenthal (List Price - $39.99)

Chegg.com
Semester - $16.82
Quarter - $14.62

Amazon
New - $35.99
Used - $23.95

AbeBooks
Lowest Price - $20.77

Results - You can save less than $4.00 by renting this book, and this does not include the fact that the copy on my desk cost £9.95 (or less than $20.00). It would be nice to see a College Student do a comparison with their local bookstores, and the shelf price of a couple randomlt selected books. But, I would rather spend the additional $4.00 and keep the book!

This website is in development for renting textbooks. Check it out:

http://www.bumerangbooks.com/

This website is in development for renting textbooks. Check it out:

http://www.bumerangbooks.com/

A cogent response to a muddled question.
There are two issues here:
1) wasting wood pulp to distribute information to students in subject areas which need updating often, in most cases.
2) The bookstore's toll charge for exchanging books from one group to the next, typically starting at 30% and up, a system designed to be inefficient. Amazon and Ebay's trading system for used books is a better option, charging 15% plus shipping, but a local non-profit exchange would be better.
The first problem could be solved if and when the laptop becomes ubiquitous, and books could be legally licensed and downloaded for a term. The publishers have been understandably foot-dragging on this one, as they can see themselves going the way of the record industry.

I still have five or six textbooks from college that I wasn't able to sell back to my bookstore. If I were able to rent them, they'd be somewhere else being used.

If they used carbon-offset shipping methods, this could be much greener and much, much more convenient for students. Especially considering how little money bookstores give you for buying back books.

One book I bought for $60 and they gave me $5 for it when I tried to return it. Turns out the professor was one of the authors and decided that he wanted his class to use his newest edition, so the old one wasn't worth anything on campus anymore.

The textbooks always go out-of-date when a new edition comes out anyway. That's what stops the "rental" cycle in college book stores. It's not like much has changed in many of these subjects, and some books may just require another chapter, which could be provided separately. Why don't universities step up to the plate and make higher education more affordable via a free textbook written by professors available online to students. Large university systems (University of California, for example) would have larger returns for the effort, as more of their students would save money, spend less time working and more time studying.

I know students would print it each time a student takes a class (assuming they read the book), but I for one wouldn't. And there's always electronic paper....

At the end of my Physics class last year, my professor asked our class if we would have preferred the option of a digital copy of our textbook, as opposed to the physical copy we had to purchase. Most of us favored this option for a number of reasons, mostly because it was less expensive than purchasing the actual book.

My school does do book buy-backs (which I agree is a bit like renting), and of course sells used copies of the textbooks. However, after my first year of college, I found that I could by my textbooks new for a lower price from online retailers than I could buy them used from the school bookstore. I have been going that route ever since, especially since I am still allowed to sell the books' back' to the bookstore.

The thing that drives me crazy to no end about the college textbook system I have experienced is when a course says a certain book is required, and it doesn't get used once. I just dropped $50 on nothing! But then again, spending $50 for a digital copy of the textbook would feel a lot like dropping $50 on nothing for some.

The good thing is that if you wind up getting a textbook that you really like, you can keep it and add it to your personal library. It seems that the digital copy rentals only allow you access for a certain period of time.

From a green standpoint, you also have to consider that if the textbook is digital, students HAVE to be on their computer using electricity to access the book. Although it seems students are on their computers all of the time, including when doing their homework anyway, so that's not much of an issue.

James,

There is another problem with digital texts ... printing ... and a lot of it! When I was an undergrad, we had a lot of digital texts and the vast majority of them were printed out for use (sometimes multiple times) - and until e-book readers are perfected, this is going to continue being the status quo.

Cheers!

I am cheap about my books. I will buy older editions when i cant find the current one used, I frequently resell the books , and will do without the books if possible. This past quarter I was able to borrow my books at the local library.

I figure buying cheaply then reselling is just renting anyway.

Of course, professors can do a better job by not requiring the most recent edition of a text, which will allow for a better resale market and will make renting more feasible.

An Anthropology class I took required a book that was relatively old, and I was able to buy it at a secondhand bookstore for next to nothing.

When I was in college, many of my instructors had the following attitude:

Textbooks are a massive scam. For example: the way Calculus works hasn't changed in 200 years, yet textbooks come out with new editions every two years. The reason is this: So that 10 year old textbooks can't be useful to students, and the publishers always have a revenue stream. All they ever do between editions is a bit of editorial shuffling and changing the exercises so that the instructors need the new version (actually the company gives those copies away) and so do the students. In a class of 40 students where the textbooks cost $100 new (and that must happen every two years with the new edition!), that's $4000 per class per semester.

Those same publishers want to siphon off those same numbers, one way or another. Rent the books? Sure! That doesn't mean they won't be producing a "new" edition and printing a whole new run in another 2 years though.

And publishers hate E-books. The e-texts that have seen the light of day so far have been so laden with digital rights management that they barely work at all, or better yet, cease to work at the end of the semester.

Response from Chegg.com - #1 in Textbook Rentals (www.chegg.com)

In addition to savings and convenience, Chegg textbook rentals have environmental advantages over bookstore buy back programs:

1) Chegg takes back every book that is rented, unlike bookstores that will often refuse to buy the book back. Dauntingly long lines and low buyback prices frequently mean students keep the book on a shelf. Eventually that book finds its way into the trash where no other student has a chance to use it.

2) When students buy a book, they’re often more free about writing and highlighting in the book which reduces its value and the number of times it can be resold. Chegg’s policies around limited highlighting mean books can be reused more times.

3) Chegg plants a tree for every book that is rented through partnerships with organizations like Eco-Libris and Plant a Tree, USA. To date, Chegg has funded over 100 acres of trees.

I think any system that helps students get used textbooks for cheap is helping not only students but also the environment. Every textbook I rent that is used is keeping trees from being cut down to make new textbooks.

I dont see how anyone couldnt think that renting textbooks is a safer way, and this website, chegg.com, that I rent my textbooks from also plants a tree for every rental that I do!

Research the company that you support and make sure they are doing something for the environment...thats what I did.

I've been renting textbooks for two semesters now and it works great. The added bonus is that I'm not purchasing new books every semester, allowing me to reduce my impact. Plus the site I use (Chegg.com) plants a tree for every book I rent. I think renting is as close as "green textbooks" can go.. unless all books were online.. but I don't see that happening soon.

As a senior in college, I have bought books as well as rented. For me, the clear choice is renting. Not only is it the more economical option, it saves trees as well. I have truely enjoyed chegg.com; not only do they rent textbooks which can be used multiple times, they also plant a tree for every book a student buys. It's a pretty neat idea for the eco-conscious individual.

Call me a cynic, but it seems that "Friends of Chegg" have jumped on the bandwagon in the last three comments after the "official" chegg response.

And no, I don't believe the fact that Chegg plants a tree is that big a deal.

There are loads of groups doing that, and "planting a tree" has almost become a bit of greenwash in and of itself these days.

Here, buy a Hummer and we'll plant a tree...

-kl

A great place for used textbooks is GreenTextbooks.org
Save Money, Save The Planet
GreenTextbooks.org specializes in the recycling of textbooks, DVDs, CDs. Buying used textbooks not only saves you money, but cuts down on greenhouse gases caused by the manufacturing of new textbooks.
With GreenTextbooks.org you're not only saving trees, your saving some green.

Shop and Save Green Buying & Selling Used Books at Green Textbooks

Shop and Save Green Buying & Selling Used Books at Green Textbooks">Shop and Save Green Buying & Selling Used Books at Green Textbooks
">Shop and Save Green Buying & Selling Used Books at Green Textbooks

Hello all! I am the creator of ELendingLibrary.com.

We are the first TRUE peer to peer textbook lending website. You can rent textbooks anywhere from $1.00 to $5.00. That's it.

Alex

I would suggest using GreenTextbooks.org
Save Money, Save The Planet
GreenTextbooks.org specializes in the recycling of textbooks, DVDs, CDs. Buying used textbooks not only saves you money, but cuts down on greenhouse gases caused by the manufacturing of new textbooks.
With GreenTextbooks.org you're not only saving trees, you are saving some green.
http://www.greentextbooks.org

Book renting is not the only way to be more green, there are a lot of different options for college students. I once actually got a needed book from paperbackswap, although that takes a little planning ahead to make sure you get the book by the time classes start.

Another option is e-books, but they can be a bit cumbersome.

Second hand books are probably one of the more viable options for a lot of students. A decreasing number of colleges actually offer rental programs. There are dozens of places to find used books online including Amazon,Chegg, half.com, etc... as well as sites that let you compare used book prices across all of them, like compare-books.