# What to do with old magazines? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 15, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229 "2010-04-15T16:34:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/1 "2010-04-15T16:34:33Z")
I have a bunch of old news magazines, some dating back to the OJ trial. It seems a shame to throw them away, but I’m trying not to be a hoarder (anymore) and keep them (haven’t looked at them in years). Is there a place I can give them to that would want them, other than just recycling the lot of them? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/2 "2010-04-15T16:36:19Z")
Put them in recycling. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/3 "2010-04-15T16:39:00Z")
He said _other_ than recycling them. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/4 "2010-04-15T16:43:10Z")
Possible your local library might want them. No harm in asking but I’d be surprised if they took them. If recycling isn’t an option them maybe composting? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/5 "2010-04-15T16:44:57Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > He said _other_ than recycling them. Make paper hats and boats or a magazine Christmas tree for people you hate as a present. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/6 "2010-04-15T16:46:48Z")
Are we talking Time and PC World or National Geographic and Architectural Digest? Does the fact they’re dated compromise their relevance? ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/7 "2010-04-15T16:50:03Z")
On a tangent, if anyone who comes in to read this thread has mid-90s (looking mostly for 95-98) video game magazines they want to get rid of I am interested. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/8 "2010-04-15T16:52:34Z")
They’re Newsweeks. If it was something like Nat. Geo. I’d probably find some place to store them. But with the advent of the 24 hr newscycle and more news that I can possibly digest, plus limited space, I can’t keep storing all of them. I do plan on keeping a few of them around. The aforementioned OJ trial. Articles on legalization of gay marriage years before it became a hot-button issue. But I don’t really want to continue to make room for stuff like “Are babies racist?” or Wesley Clark’s presidential chances. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/9 "2010-04-15T16:54:19Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Make paper hats and boats or a magazine Christmas tree for people you hate as a present. That’s the ticket! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/10 "2010-04-15T16:56:27Z")
Just take them with you to doctor’s or dentist and leave a few copies there. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/11 "2010-04-15T17:01:53Z")
Newsweek?? That was trash a week after it was published, if not before it left the dock. Your library will not want them. The only person who would want them is a Newsweek hoarder trying to complete his collection. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/12 "2010-04-15T17:11:44Z")
If you have local children’s hospitals or underfunded schools, they may be able to use them for crafting projects. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/13 "2010-04-15T17:16:53Z")
Recycle. The only thing they are worth is their weight in paper. Good on you for not wanting to be a hoarder. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/14 "2010-04-15T17:19:51Z")
Paper Beads! How to [patterns](http://paperbeads.org/) for different items How to [make](http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Paper-Beads/) the paper beads How to make a recycled [paper lei](http://www.instructables.com/id/Recycled-paper-hawaiian-lei/) for that festive luau And that old classic, [papier mache](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papier-m%C3%A2ch%C3%A9) ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/15 "2010-04-15T17:19:53Z")
The most useful thing you can do with them is recycle them. Nobody wants them or needs them for anything. > [@Zebra](#): > > Just take them with you to doctor’s or dentist and leave a few copies there. Come on now! No doctor or dentist is going to want decade-old magazines in their office. You’re just making them go through the trouble of throwing them away. (Recent magazines they may want, but probably not weekly newsmagazines if they’re older than a few weeks old.) ETA–I have some paper beads like the ones **aruqvan** linked to, and they’re indeed very cool. But the paper used for Newsweek, et. al. is too poor to get a good result. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/16 "2010-04-15T17:24:21Z")
You say you’re trying not to be a hoarder. That’s a good thing, I have problems with it myself sometimes. So ask yourself: Are you really going to reread the articles about the OJ trial and legalizing gay marriage? Is there something you should know about the issues you missed the first time you read them? Is there anything in the articles that you wouldn’t be able to google if you really wanted and needed to know? Are you going to write a book and need them as sources? If no, recycle them and save trees. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/17 "2010-04-15T17:45:35Z")
Actually, I have occasionally gone back to read a couple of old articles. It was interesting to see the perspective at the time and compared it to the present. For example, last year I reread a few weeks worth of Hurricane Katrina coverage, and during 2006 and 2008 I did take a quick look at the gay marriage article that came out a few years before that. But I get your point. I don’t plan on saving many, probably less than 20 issues out of the hundreds I have. Those can be stored easily. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/18 "2010-04-15T17:52:22Z")
My aunt volunteers at a local hospital in their library. She was telling me the other day that their funding was cut and the first thing to go was magazine subscriptions. I offered to give her my Wired magazines from the last couple years (they are too pretty to toss right away!) and she was pretty happy. Granted, super old magazines probably aren’t useful to too many people, but a place like a hospital has some very bored people looking for things to read. Heck, they might even want to use them as fodder for kids’ craft projects! Anyway, give some local hospitals a call. If they have a library, they may want them. If not…recycle! ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/19 "2010-04-15T17:55:50Z")
Ok, will do! ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/20 "2010-04-15T18:28:00Z")
There are 8,102 current eBay items for sale under the search “newsweek magazine”. One man’s trash… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229.md?page=2)