The Triple Bottom Line – One Book at a Time
We recently discovered that our book is now being sold by online bookseller BetterWorld.com. Digging deeper, we discovered that these guys are the real deal in terms of the “triple bottom line” of people, planet, and profits. (Be sure to check out our interview with co-founder Xavier Helgesen in the audio player below.)
BetterWorld was started by three friends and ultimate Frisbee teammates at the University of Notre Dame — Helgesen, Jeff Kurtzman, and Chris Fuchs. Looking for a way to make some extra cash, they started selling their used textbooks online. The idea gained momentum and, in partnership with a local community center, they launched a more aggressive book drive – this time collecting 2,000 books and raising $10,000 for the center. Sensing they were onto something, they submitted a business plan to the McCloskey Business Plan competition and won the “Best Social Venture” category. With their winnings, these budding entrepreneurs launched “Book Drives for Better Lives” on college campuses across the country.
That’s where it gets interesting. On the lookout for used books, they hit the mother lode: libraries. Every year, libraries get rid of thousands of books to make room for the next cycle. Sometimes these libraries find a home for these discarded tomes, but often they end up getting tossed. Spotting an opportunity to do good while doing well, the entrepreneurs (now called Better World Books) offered to collect the books. They’ve since done the same thing on college campuses. Setting up the “win-win-win” has allowed the company to partner with more than 1,600 college campuses and 1,000 libraries, yielding an inventory of hundreds of thousands of books. That’s where the triple bottom line becomes clear.
Books in good shape get sold online with a portion of the profits driving the company’s growth and a portion going to support over 80 literacy programs globally. Additionally, the libraries that transfer the books to BWB under consignment typically get 15% of the net sale price of every book sold as well as 5% for their chosen literacy partner. Books that don’t make the commercial cut but are still in good shape are distributed among Better World’s four primary literacy partners: Books for Africa, Room to Read, Worldfund, and the National Center for Family Literacy. Books that are past their usefulness are recycled. No book is thrown out. The company has also arranged to have every book order shipped carbon-neutrally with offsets from Carbonfund.org and delivery by the U.S. Postal Service (which uses the least energy per package of any national carrier, according to BWB).
The results? Since 2003, the company has collected more than 11 million books, raising more than $2.8 million for over 80 literacy and education non-profits in addition to $80,000 for the New Orleans Public Library Foundation and another $1.7 million for libraries and thrift stores nationally. Furthermore, BWB has given over $1 million to college clubs that run their own book drives and has shipped more than a million books to their partner literacy programs – as well as setting aside 5% of their stock option pool for their core literacy partners. All of this while saving 6,500 books from landfills and purchasing 2,400 tons of carbon offsets – and growing the company to $21 million in revenue with 200 full-time full-benefit employees.
For those seeking innovative approaches to realizing the triple bottom line, BWB is a good place to start. And don’t forget to buy a book while you’re there.
The Triple Bottom Line – One Book at a Time
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