Reduce, Reread, Reorganize • We’re moving this weekend.  In the process of cleaning and packing, we’ve amassed a veritable mountain of magazines.  (Not just the fashion mags—we have a few months worth of Wired and BlackBook and Bitch and copies of our college’s alumni magazine.)  Although we have neither the need nor the space for six-month-old copies of Self, we hate the idea of throwing away these outdated issues.  Score one for irrationality and impracticality! 

So, we ask: What do you do with your magazines once you’ve read them?  We’ve tried donating them to a local hospital, but they only accept magazines occasionally.  If you hang on to all your glossies, how do you keep them organized?  We don't want to end up like these guys.

Comments

[Emily]

You should ebay them! Apparently back-issues of magazines are fairly big sellers. And you've already scanned the covers, so uploading the pics wouldn't be too hard :o). I;d suggest selling them in lots of maybe 3-4 magazines.

[Ashley]

You could also call schools. A lot of them use magazines for different types of projects and would welcome the donation.

Otherwise, my solution is to start a filing system and pull out/scan the items you want and recycle the rest.

[tanya]

Ooh - I like the EBay idea. I've never thought of looking there for some odd reason. I also give mine to my hairdresser - they can always use mags.

[Meredith]

I bring mine to the gym--it's great to see other people getting through a workout with my old magazines.

[KimberlyRose]

Check out Anysoldier.com. Magazines get requested a lot.

[Micaela]

Um ... can I take some of them off of your hands? I'm always looking for magazines for my collages. :)

[MissPinkKate]

I, too, take mine to the gym and leave them in the ladies' locker room.

[eye4style]

I list mine under "Free Stuff" on Craigslist - Art and design students need lots of magazines and it can get expensive, so this is my little way of giving back!

[Copy]

The gym always works. And if you live near a Half-Price Books, they buy back magazines from up to 3 months back. You don't get a whole lot in return, but it beats nothing.
If all else fails, recycle them!

[Emily]

Oh yeah, they gym. Magazines are the only thing that make a 45-minute session on the elliptical bearable.

[jane]

when i lived upstairs from a nail salon, i'd take stacks down there. i'd get about one free manicure a month out of it. now, i just leave them in the foyer of my building and they're gone within 5 minutes.

[lizzy]

I bring them to work. I just set them up on a table outside of my cubicle and people take them as they pass. A lot of times I will see the table empty, but then later in the day, they get returned. I like this because people are using the "magazine table" like a little lending library and so lots of people get free entertainment. Catalogs are VERY popular as well. I just remove the address labels.

[Glossed Over]

So many great ideas--thanks, everyone! We think we'll try a few different methods. We've been sending the extras to work with the fiance (his workplace has tons of employees; ours has four), but we never even considered the nail salon or gym. Excellent suggestions! We're especially interested in anysoldier.com and, yes, eBay. Can you believe someone's charging $150 for the naked and pregnant Britney Spears issue of Bazaar? Insane!

Micaela, send us an email.

[Mrs Fashion]

Weirdly I've kept all of mine til this month when I've started a mag clear-out too.
I've been going through and ripping out tears that I want and then recyling the remainder. I now store all the tears in box files and the rest of the mags on bookshelves. There are some titles I'll never get rid off - my vintgae mags and the folded titles for example - but it sure feels good to see the floor in my house again!
Mrs F x

[annalee]

I would be extremely happy to take your old copies of Bitch off your hands if you are still trying to get rid of them!
my email is tinytimemachine@hotmail.com

[tama]

I donate them to my friends and my school, I use them in my art, and I sell them on ebay.

[Lisa]

I take piles with me every time I go to the dentist or doctor's office and leave them behind - amazing that so many health care offices only have Field & Stream on hand! I exchange with friends, or just give them away to friends and relatives. I donate to my kids' schools for art projects (careful which ones you send, though!), and leave mags behind in public places like trains, hotel lobbies, etc. Yes like others, I've dropped some at the gym, hair salon and nail place. Also, there is a great new magazine recycling organization that distributes donated issues to homeless shelters - magazineliteracy.org. Also, when we have a garage sale, I just give them away free.

[winque]

I make origami or artwork out of my old mags. If you have any freed up, I'd love to take them off of your hands!

[shart]

There's a free mental health clinic near our apartment and I drop them off there once a month.

[Jemima]

my local ymca charity shop re-sells mine. but I still have huge stacks sitting on my closet from when I was addicted to harpers and vogue (no longer).