How to Recycle Magazines

It seems to be the American way to receive new magazines in the mail every day. Instead of novels, many people read magazines--and eventually, these magazines pile up around the house and office. If you just can't throw them in the trash because you paid good money for them, or because there are well-written articles and beautiful pictures that someone might want to use someday, try a few methods of putting those old magazines to good use.

Instructions

1. 

   Take old magazines to someone else, like your local gym. Even if you do not have a membership, ask at the front desk if they would mind you bringing in some good magazines that might be appropriate for the customers to use while they are working out. Another drop-off idea is the hospital. Many hours are spent just waiting in hospitals and there is nothing to do but watch TV. Ask the volunteer office if they would like to have some magazines for the patients to read. Other places include the laundry mat, auto mechanic's office, or even an assisted living facility. When you donate old magazines, just make sure to take your name and address label off the cover, or at least black it out.

2. 

   Shred the magazines. If you have a shredder that can handle two or three pages at a time, you can shred your magazines into useful packing material. Even if you do not ship things, many mail stores will accept your packaging materials. The shreds can be used also as a fire starter in your fireplace.

3. 

   Keep a bin or box of magazines in your garage or shed to use for projects that need a drop cloth. The next time you want to paint something, just rip out a few pages, and lay them out. You can also grab a few pages to stuff into your damp boots after a walk in the rain.

4. 

   Use old magazines for crafts. Depending on your tastes and the kind of magazines you collect, you can use them for decoupage, lampshades, wallpaper, gift-wrapping, note cards, postcards, Christmas paper chains, pinatas, and papier-mache masks. These are all fun ideas if you have children or grandchildren in the house.

5. 

   Resell old magazines. You can check online to see what magazines people are interested in and resell them at a fraction of the original cost. Maybe you have a senior citizen as a neighbor that might be interested in getting the magazines for half price from you once you have finished reading them. Another idea is to donate them to your local thrift store so they can sell them. If you have quality educational magazines, a college library might be interested in reselling them to their students.

6. 

   Send them to your local recycling plant. They are part of the single stream recycling process and will be cleaned and shredded for use again as some kind of paper product. Most municipalities have free curbside pickup days if you can stack them and put them out the night before.