What we take
Books
Books transport and transform us. Your old checkout-line paperbacks, hardcover coffee table books, and kids' books still have plenty of magic inside of them.
Our partners help get your dusty books off of your bookshelf and into a new home where they will be treasured. Now that's what we call a happy ending!
What we do with it
Unlike other categories, books retain almost all of their original value! They can still be read, they can still bring joy.
We take your books and through our donation process, they get redistributed to local libraries, schools, and individuals.
About our partners
How we keep your Books out of landfills.
We partner directly with innovators who transform hard-to-recycle materials into new products—so you can see exactly where your items go and what they become.
Featured Partner
Cycla
Cycla doesn't only collect your old t-shirts and jeans—they're orchestrating a rescue operation for textiles. Founded by women who grew up in the thrift store business, they know exactly how to give your clothes the best second life possible. Cycla connects your textiles to a network of buyers and sellers, prioritizing US-based thrift stores and then an eco-friendly global network to minimize waste. And those plastic Ridwell bags you fill with reusable clothes and shoes? Cycla sends them straight to Trex to become decking! Also a philanthropic organization endorsing a range of local and international causes, Cycla isn’t just managing textile waste—they're reimagining what's possible when we think beyond the landfill.
Featured Partner
Kids Need Books
Kids Need Books (KNB) is part of the Interfaith Coalition and hands out new and gently used books to Whatcom County families. KNB was founded in the summer of 2016 to fight the summer slide—the academic decline commonly experienced by low-income students during their time away from school and books. KNB soon discovered that local families were hungry for quality reading material and the program evolved into a year-round effort. KNB has given out over 125,000 books.
Featured Partner
Dream Books
Dream Books Company connects books with readers through partnerships with community organizations. They find new homes for millions of books each year. Since 2008, they have partnered with non-profits, libraries, and schools to provide sustainable solutions for their books and media.
Featured Partner
Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Region
Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Region has a vision that every person has the opportunity to learn, work, and thrive in all aspects of life. In general, Goodwill is one of the region’s largest recyclers for threads. They work with local agencies to recycle and repurpose everything from electronics to books, textiles to plastic toys and keep tens of millions of pounds out of the landfills each year. Materials provided by Ridwell are sold in their retail stores or sent to recycling partners.
Featured Partner
Treehouse
Treehouse envisions — and strives to create — a world where every child who has experienced foster care has the opportunities and support they need to pursue their dreams and launch successfully into independence. They directly support and work alongside more than 6,000 youth in foster care in Washington State, as well as their caregivers, educators, school administrators and social workers, to ensure each young person has an individualized plan and network. Treehouse also advocates for systems-level change, informed by on-the-ground expertise. Through direct programs and advocacy, Treehouse is uniquely positioned to close the opportunity gap and positively change the outcomes of youth who have experienced foster care.
Featured Partner
Cycla
Cycla isn't only busy orchestrating a rescue operation for textiles, they are also utilizing their network of US-based thrift stores to give the best second life possible to various Featured Categories (i.e. housewares, books, and accessories). Cycla connects your items to a network of eco-friendly buyers and sellers to minimize waste. Also a philanthropic organization endorsing a range of local and international causes, Cycla isn’t just managing waste—they're reimagining what's possible when we think beyond the landfill.
Featured Partner
Northwest Center
Northwest Center (NWC) was founded in 1965 by Seattle parents who refused to give up when their kids with disabilities were rejected from schools. Northwest Center (NWC) is one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive organizations serving the community with disability inclusion programs and services that advance equal opportunities for people of all abilities. Today, Northwest Center provides Early Supports and inclusive Early Learning for children from birth to school age, where kids of all abilities share classrooms, playgrounds, and high expectations; and Employment Services where candidates with disabilities find employment as meaningful to them as it is beneficial to their employer. Northwest Center is living proof: when people of all abilities learn and work together, everyone benefits.
Featured Partner
Atlanta Book Donations Inc.
Founded in 2019, Atlanta Book Donations Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based out of Atlanta, GA, has been an essential organization and a reputable donating mechanism for the community for over two years. Atlanta Book Donations Inc. is dedicated to collecting, sorting, and distributing books to children and adults in Georgia.
Their mission is to end the act of sending books to the landfill and give 100% of all donated books to private schools, daycares, nursing homes, shelters, public libraries, and home school libraries and to provide them with opportunities to read for pleasure, study, and/or academic growth.
They envision no longer seeing books fill up the landfill, but instead in the hands of children and adults. Through book donations, Atlanta Books Donations Inc. is equipped and empowered to offer access to literature that will enrich, improve, and change the lives of donation recipients in Georgia.
Featured Partner
The Book Truck
The Book Truck is a teen literacy non-profit that serves under-resourced communities throughout Los Angeles County. They believe in a world in which every teen can learn, explore, engage, and thrive as a reader. When it comes to books and reading, teens are often left behind. The Book Truck fills that crucial gap by focusing on adolescents. Through their programming, they provide free, diverse, high-quality books and literacy support materials to teenagers across LA. They serve 6,000 under-resourced adolescents and give away 12,000 books annually. They break down the barriers to reading so that every teenager who approaches the truck feels like reading is something for them.
Any high quality and high interest Young Adult books, comics, and adult books that have crossover appeal (like sports, self-help, basic cookbooks, and contemporary memoirs) provided by Ridwell members will go to The Book Truck to support teens in LA. For some of the teens they work with, these are the first books they’ve ever owned, and they truly treasure them.
Featured Partner
Friends of the San Carlos Library
San Mateo County Libraries operates 13 libraries including San Carlos Library. Friends of the San Carlos Library is a qualified 501(c)3 non-profit organization that supports local programming and services. They are dedicated to supporting the activities of the San Carlos Library by hosting author events, sponsoring book sales, and providing community- building activities.
Featured Partner
Friends of the Mountain View Library
The Friends of the Mountain View Library is a non-profit organization that raises money to make the library an ever-better place to be. Their goals are to help keep the community and the library connected, communicate the benefits and needs of the library, and aid in the funding of high-quality library resources and services. They are run 100% by volunteers and enjoy helping to make the Mountain View library extraordinary.
Featured Partner
Seattle Goodwill
Founded in 1923, Seattle Goodwill has been an integral part of our community for over 90 years. Driven by their mission to provide free job training and education to those in need, they continue to help change people’s lives for the better. They believe in the potential of individuals to make positive changes in their lives. They believe that education and training empower people to make those changes. Their vision for the communities they serve is that each person is able to choose rewarding employment, financial security and the experience of educational achievement.
Because of their work, people are building their futures, families are strengthened, and our communities are enriched. They want you to feel good about knowing that your stuff is going to someone who will love and cherish it as their own. They have helped keep 60 million pounds of usable goods out of our landfills, which means you’re doing good for the earth too.
Featured Partner
Children's Book Bank at SMART Reading
Children’s Book Bank at SMART Reading works to increase opportunities for children to succeed as future readers, learners & citizens by filling their homes and lives with quality books. Since 2008, they have mobilized our community to give 934,598 beautiful books to 84,376 children experiencing poverty and children of color. To do so, 3,500 community members volunteer with them each year to collect, restore, sort and deliver tens of thousands of books to children throughout Portland. They partner with early childhood organizations and Title One elementary schools to reach young children who can benefit from free collection of inclusive books to keep as their own.
Featured Partner
Friends of the Seattle Public Library
Friends of the Seattle Public Library is a non-profit, grassroots organization dedicated to promoting our Library as an essential institution of society and supporting its mission and vision. Their volunteer members advocate for, educate about, and raise funds on behalf of The Library.
Through sponsoring programs, supporting adequate facilities and funding for the Library, providing volunteers, and collaborating with other Library and civic groups, the Friends have helped Seattle maintain a world class, inclusive library system.
Currently the Friends are operating the retail FriendShop located in the Seattle Central Library, accepting book donations which are sold or redistributed to local nonprofits and fulfilling book requests for Title 1 school teachers in the Seattle Public School system.
