BookSwim.com has partnered with RecycleBank to provide businesses and households who recycle discounted membership to BookSwim’s online book rental club.

Monroe Township, NJ – August 23, 2007 – RecycleBank, a rewards program that motivates households to recycle has recently struck a deal with BookSwim to give RecycleBank members a discounted subscription to rent books at BookSwim.com. BookSwim is a company that provides monthly book rental direct to members’ homes with no shipping costs and no late fees through their website. RecycleBank is a service that gives businesses and households who recycle rewards points based on the volume of trash they recycle. RecycleBank members can now receive 50 percent off any book rental plan for the first month of membership.

The Philadelphia-based RecycleBank approached BookSwim to become a partnering affiliate because of the environmental savings and efficiency of a BookSwim’s rental model.

“Renting a book instead of purchasing means that less paper is consumed,” says chief operating officer, Shamoon Siddiqui. “What happens to a book when someone is finished reading it? Typically, it sits around collecting dust, using up valuable space or is even thrown away! We can only hope it would be passed along to a friend or donated to charity, keeping that book alive.”

“With a book rental model, when you’re finished reading, return the book. Now other BookSwim members can enjoy that title. One printing of a book could typically satisfy twenty Swimmers which reduces the amount of paper being used and trees being cut down.”, says Siddiqui.

In addition to paper waste, fuel consumption is also saved through BookSwim’s delivery methods. If multiple members in the same location were to drive to a bookseller individually, needless fuel is consumed. The consolidation of the postal service stopping at more that one house to pick up and drop off BookSwim packages saves overall gas usage.

“Aside from the normal pastic/paper/aluminum recycling, we look for ways to become efficient by reusing our own materials. Scrap papers and box packaging now becomes the packing material sent to customers and older, un-rentable books get given to local libraries, says Siddiqui.”

BookSwim has also been on the receiving end of recycling through donated furniture and equipment. “Craigslist has been our best friend,” says chief marketing officer George Burke. Craigslist is a locality-centric classified ads service allowing for exchanges of goods. “We’ve obtained most of our desks, chairs, computers, shipping material — and even tons of books — through people on Craigslist who simply don’t want to throw away good, reusable items.”

RecycleBank sees BookSwim’s program as a step in the right direction. “As a company that was founded upon the belief that environmental initiatives can be both market-driven and simple, RecycleBank recognizes the importance of what BookSwim is doing”, says Lisa Pomerantz, marketing and communications director for RecycleBank. “We applaud BookSwim for its efforts and look forward to rewarding our loyal RecycleBank households with BookSwim’s outstanding program.”

ABOUT BOOKSWIM CORPORATION
BookSwim (http://www.bookswim.com), established June 2006, is the first full-service membership-based online paperback and hardcover book rental library club allowing subscribers to rent books shipped directly to their door with no late fees and free shipping. The company is based in Monroe Township, NJ but offers book rental service nationwide ranging from hardcover new release novels to classics, nonfiction bestsellers to children’s books. Book club subscription plans range from under $20 to $35 per month and allow up to 11 books borrowed out at a time and returned in a pre-paid bag, but members are given the option to buy.

ABOUT RECYCLEBANK
RecycleBank is a rewards program that motivates people to recycle. It does this by quickly and easily measuring the amount of material each home recycles and then converting that activity into RecycleBank reward dollars that can be used at hundreds of local and national rewards partners. RecycleBank is simple to implement, market-driven and proven to work, saving municipalities’ money and rewarding citizens for their environmental stewardship. Visit www.recyclebank.com for more information.