# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/21 "2010-04-16T03:12:18Z")
I accumulated years worth of (now defunct) Movieline magazines back when it was snarky and before it turned into a fashion magazine. and it had hilarious articles by Joe Queenan. Plus the annual “more sex than usual” edition. That was some good reading, worth keeping! Could have sold them on eBay, but they all got wet in a basement flood. I live with a semi-hoarder who refuses to throw out old magazines and catalogs, so I just sneak a handful out in the recycling bin every week, just to keep up. Unless there is something special in a magazine, it’s mostly available online, so I’d put them in the recycling bin. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/22 "2010-04-16T04:52:21Z")
eBay is very effective at finding a new home for old magazines. However, just because there are 8,102 listings doesn’t mean there are any buyers. Specialty magazines do much better than news magazines. Auto, gaming, entertainment, hobbies… I expect that ten years from now, all periodicals back to 1980 will have been digitized and available on the web. So don’t bother hoarding any new stuff. Paper will be passe. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/23 "2010-04-16T08:11:09Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > The most useful thing you can do with them is recycle them. Nobody wants them or needs them for anything. > > 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.) Don’t ask permission. I’m saying sneak in a old one. Then someone else waiting can have a real WTF moment when they pick up a ten year old magazine. Clearly these all need to head to the recycle bin. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/24 "2010-04-16T09:45:26Z")
Put them up for free on Craigslist. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/25 "2010-04-16T12:20:02Z")
I usually remove the good articles with a razor blade and scan them to PDF. Then everything goes to recycle. If I ever want to know about a particular cool article I once read, a quick Google Desktop search (or Spotlight on my Mac) finds the PDF. > [@Zebra](#): > > Don’t ask permission. > > I’m saying sneak in a old one. Then someone else waiting can have a real WTF moment when they pick up a ten year old magazine. > > Clearly these all need to head to the recycle bin. When I was a projectionist in the early 90’s, I found some ancient movie trailers in the projection booth. I started slipping them in to the rotation every once in a while. Imagine being at the movies today and watching a trailer for “Rambo, First Blood Part II . . . Coming . . . May 1985” 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/26 "2010-04-16T12:27:15Z")
I used to dump mine at the prison near me. By the time it had changed to a women’s prison I had luckily stopped buying magazines. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/27 "2010-04-16T13:07:41Z")
Take the springs out, smash them flat and put them in with the metal recycling. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/28 "2010-04-16T13:13:25Z")
Bring them to the Library. They have a magazine exchange table. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/29 "2010-04-16T16:14:07Z")
Look, your library probably has a database where you can read all that for free, and it doesn’t take up any room in your house. Trash. Heap. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/30 "2010-04-16T20:27:24Z")
The OP sounds a little bit like me. I don’t hoard, but I’ve kept useless stuff around by telling myself that someday someone somewhere might want it. That kind of thinking gives value to useless stuff and makes me feel better about not tossing it. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/31 "2010-04-17T01:12:40Z")
I’m a librarian, and I think the chances that any library would want these are slim to none. If you give them to the library they will almost certainly be recycled. It would be kinder to the library staff to just recycle them yourself. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/32 "2010-04-17T02:19:02Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > The OP sounds a little bit like me. I don’t hoard, but I’ve kept useless stuff around by telling myself that someday someone somewhere might want it. That kind of thinking gives value to useless stuff and makes me feel better about not tossing it. Me. too. I’m not hoarding, really I’m not, but I just might really NEED to check that 1958 Popular Science (that I’m saving, not hoarding), but, not being a hoarder, I’m not worried about hoarding… Ok, after reading this, I am _seriously_ thinking of filling one small acid-free box with the PopSci’s (and Harvard Lampoons and Silver Age Supes) that I just can’t live without, and then getting my kids to cart off all the rest of it. And I’m betting I’ll have to leave the house while they do it, so I don’t start “making exceptions” (or pleading like a little girl). ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/33 "2010-04-17T07:46:59Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > 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) Black and white paper beads can actually look quite arty and classy. Usually I make paper beads out of dead tree catalogs, though, and I choose the more colorful sides to show. I use the paper trimmers that are usually sold to scrapbookers, and they make nice long straight cuts, and can cut several sheets at a time. I don’t even bother to mark the paper before I cut it, I can just use my thumb to get the beads to about the same width every time. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/34 "2010-04-17T08:08:40Z")
> [@](#): > > 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! Yes, maybe donate them to a mental hoispital or maybe a kids’ organization. The kids could use them for whatever…although I’ve got this " Clinton creates BFF collage for Gorby" Onion style headline in my head. Too bad they aren’t REALLY historical. I know I like going through old magazines/newspapers to see how things have changed. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/35 "2010-04-17T14:00:09Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > Put them up for free on Craigslist. Seconded, or find a Freecycle group in your area. I tend to be guilty throwing away items that have some “use” but that I will never actually myself use. So here’s my basic strategy: Step 1 - Can I imagine someone wanting this and being willing to come get it? If yes, go to Step 2. Otherwise, discard. Step 2 - Put an ad on Craigslist in the free section, or on Freecycle. Does someone respond within a day? If yes, schedule a visit ASAP to give it to them. If not, discard. People watch these free groups like hawks. I’ve given away all number of things I thought nobody would want (a broken TV stand, a TV/VCR with no antenna or remote and a broken VCR, garage sale leftovers, etc.). But for the things that absolutely nobody wants well enough to come get it, it means they are pretty much valueless. Throw them away (or recycle). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229/36 "2010-04-17T14:14:07Z")
stick em on eBay. If someone wants them you’ll get cash. If they don’t sell, throw them away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-magazines/536229.md?page=1)