Textbook Web site saves money, environment

As the new semester begins, many students run rampant trying to find ways to save money, especially when it comes to classroom necessities, like textbooks.

Students drop as much as $500 in a single semester on textbooks alone.

For many, financial aid and sometimes the help of parents can alleviate the money woes that having to buy textbooks can cause, but for others, it is simply too hard to spend that much money on textbooks in addition to other expenses.

Fortunately, a new Web site, chegg.com can be of great assistance. Chegg.com is an online rental textbook store, where, according to the Web site, students can save as much as 65-85 percent on the price of textbooks.

In addition to this penny-pinching perk, the site is partnered with the American Forest Global ReLeaf Project "to plant trees for every book rented, purchased, sold or donated on Chegg.com."

The process of renting textbooks with the Web site is simple. Type in the ISBN number or a description of the book and select the correct one and add it to your cart. With priority shipping your textbook should arrive within four to seven business days.

In most cases, many textbooks are available to rent at half the price they are sold at many bookstores around Greenville.

Prices for the books differ based on how long you elect to keep the book, and return shipping is free.

For example, a cultural anthropology book that would go for about $120 at Dowdy Student Stores is listed on Chegg for about $68 for one semester, $63 for a quarter of a semester and about $58 for summer sessions. The savings are more than $50 on this one purchase and a tree is planted after the purchase is made.

According to the Web site, Chegg has "funded more than 200 acres of new trees." When they realized that 20 million trees a year were used for books-four million for textbooks alone--they "decided it was time to give a little back to Mother Nature."

The Web site also says that, "Chegg customers have helped plant over 150 city blocks of trees and counting."

Although many students do not know about the Web site, students that do, like sophomore rehabilitation studies major Caroline Boyd, will certainly recommend it to their friends or use the site in the future.

"I found out about this site from my friend and recommended it to my boyfriend because he wasn't able to receive loans to pay for his books this year because of the economy," said Boyd.

With the current state of the economy being less than ideal, many lenders have shut down their sites and financial aid allowances have been cut drastically.

Most students are looking for any way they can to save money and Chegg.com is proving to be a helpful resource, beneficial to the wallet and the environment.

This writer can be contacted at copy@theeastcarolinian.com.