The Earth Day Yakima team invites you to explore these options to recycle, reuse and make good, earth-friendly choices at home. If you plan to take advantage of any of these ideas, please reach out to the organization to confirm availability, as resources can change.

Books in Motion in Yakima

We promote reuse of educational and entertaining materials – books, videos, magazines, and music!

We promote reading, literacy and learning and the sense of community fostered by sharing books with each other.

Need A Good Book?

For the Booklovers out there

Yakima Valley Libraries and Bookmobile – Check out your local branch of our library. Find great things to read, watch and listen to, they have print materials and digital, use the computers and learn – all for free.

Used Book Stores – Encore Books Yakima or Churchill’s Books as well as the many Thrift shops in our Area

Ask your friends, family or neighbors to lend you a book or two.

If you need to buy new, consider patronizing our local bookstore Inklings Bookshop and the Yakima’s Traveling Book Bus.

Got Books?

Need to get rid of them? It’s as easy as 1 – 2 -3
If you have used books – fiction, non-fiction or reference — here are some donation options, both local and national.
Contact the organization in advance as information might have changed.

STEP ONE Assess if your books are worth donating. Damaged books should be recycled. If the book(s) is water logged, excessively stained, smelly, excessively marked up, or extremely out of date (for non-fiction) it should be recycled or otherwise discarded. Old textbooks are not usually needed or wanted.

STEP TWOIf they are in good, usable shape – consider local Yakima Valley options:

  1. Hold onto them until EARTH DAY YAKIMA Book Exchange! This annual event is hosted by the Yakima Valley Libraries Foundation.
  2. Offer to your friends and family or a local Book Club. Offer to your neighbors via a Buy Nothing page on Facebook
  3. Little Frees/Community Libraries: There are little community libraries around town. – some are independent and some are registered with Little Free Libraries Initiative and Lost Sock Laundromat on Yakima Ave.
  4. Contact locations that host libraries for their clientele: Chuck Austin Place and Harman Center
  5. Our local Used Book StoresEncore Books or Churchill’s Books.
  6. Drop off with a Coffee Shop/Café Book Exchange: For instance – Willow Cafe and Market and C&S Coffee Shop-Terrace Heights
  7. Donate at Yakima’s Thrift Stores
  8. Yard Sale at Yakima’s Genealogical Library – Donate anytime to their 2 big garage sales
  9. Interested in trying to sell your books: Consider eBay, Thrift Books, Facebook Marketplace or contact a used book shop.

STEP THREENational Options to put your used books to good use

  1. Operation Paperback – Helps donors channel books to Service Personnel domestically and overseas
  2. Prison Book Program: Organization across the country that channel books to incarcerated readers. These programs have various focuses, in terms of locations supported and target audiences.

Water Saving Ideas through Plumbing

Download the Plumbing Fact Sheet with great ideas for how you can save water through Plumbing revisions/upgrades.

Re-use Coffee Grounds and packaging

Download Welcome to Coffee Country with ideas on how to use your coffee grounds and coffee packaging in unique ways!

Recycling Asbestos

Learn about Recycling Asbestos on Mesothelioma.net,  one of the most comprehensive online resources on mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

Although the production of asbestos products and materials has ceased, it is still being detected in older commercial buildings, factories, schools, and residential homes. To safeguard our environment and communities, it is crucial to promote adequate measures in the recycling and disposal of asbestos.

At Mesothelioma.net we aim to provide the public with a comprehensive guide on identifying asbestos, as well as where to seek professional advice for abatement and recycling. Additionally, we offer treatment information and financial support to those affected. We also proudly sponsor The American Cancer Society, the MD Cancer Center, and the Make a Wish Foundation.