Today’s Green Thought Thursday is shared by Erica Amatori, our fabulous new summer intern who just graduated from Green Hope High School. Needless to say, we’re impressed by her ambition, writing skills and dedication to all things green!
Reading magazines may be fascinating the first few times, but the gossip gets old, fast. We are constantly buying more magazines and newspapers to feed our 24-hour news cycle, but, in the end, what do we do with all of these outdated magazines?
At Clairemont, we recently recycled our plethora of last year’s furniture and fashion magazines by donating them to Artspace in downtown Raleigh, where the recycled pages will be used for collages and other kid-friendly art projects.
Taking an easier approach, the city of Raleigh also approves magazines as acceptable recycling items. So, dropping them off in the recycling bin is just fine, too. But, if you’re feeling more creative than that, here are some original ways to reuse and recycle:
- Turn magazine pages into stylish gift wrap
- Donate them to a local school to use in a book sale
- Shred the paper and make vibrant fillers or gift basket paper
- Glue strips onto pieces of tile to create coasters
- Produce funky jewelry or accessories, such as purses or beads
- Donate them to a doctors office, nonprofit organization or hospital
- Make homemade envelopes
- Create handy and cute fridge magnets
- And—something more ironic—use them to make your own trash can (or recycling can!)
Have fun this summer by starting a DIY project and turning something useless into something useful. Don’t be afraid to make a statement and convert old news into new projects. Did of any of these ideas strike your fancy? We’d love to hear how you plan to reuse your old magazines!