Shelves for book-crossing made of videotapes

I got the idea to make shelves for book-crossing out of old videotapes when I was serching for ways to recycle them, and found that the magnetic tape is not recycble. It is also made with harmful substances that are highly polutive for the soil, thus there was no way I would just put the tapes in the trash.

Having studied the experience of other countries, I found people who were upcycling videotapes by giving them a new function. For example they made coffe-tables or shelves.

I’ve been wanting to set up book-crossing at the apartment complex I live in for a while, so I loved the idea of making shelves. Neighbours supported it too, so I thought through the construction and how it should hold the weight. I made the shelves by gluing the tapes together with a hot glue gun.

I set the shelves up and also put some decorations on to make them look nicer. The shelves have been in use since mid July 2024, and ever since you can always find something to read there.

If you have something that’s not recycable, don’t chuck it out immediately — think if you can upcycle it. In our case it’s not the videotapes only that got a new life but also old books.