Give Up Your Magazines. Or at Least Reconsider Them.

4 comments

[Hmmm. This blog post, written before Pinterest, sure got obsolete in a hurry.]
—————    —————-   ————–
“Did you mean quilt magazines?”
That’s what Google asked when I typed in “quit magazines.”
Nope.  I wanted to see if anyone had written about giving up magazines.  “Give up magazines.”  “Cancel magazine subscription.”  There were tutorials on how to cancel your rags, but nothing on why it might be a good idea.
It seemed appropriate given that it’s the Lenten season and that this is Zero Waste Mommy that we might take a moment to reconsider our subscriptions.
We’re traveling and here is the pile I grabbed to polish off during the three-day road trip.
That one with Trisha Yearwood is from September.  And I still haven’t cracked open those pages.  Anyone that thinks a vacation with kids is a vacation has exactly zero children.  Or is a dad.
So why do we do the magazine?
1.      It’s a quick and easy diversion.  Sometimes it’s the only thing we have time for when we’re hiding out, alone, in the bathroom.
2.      We like the pretty pictures.  Be it of clean houses, stylish garbs or Lake Como.
3.      To unwind at night, I need the first two.
4.      They keep us informed and/or make us feel smart.
But when they start to stack up it makes me feel:
1.      Guilty.  Yet another thing I can’t seem to get done in this house.
2.      Messy.  The first thing to go when it’s time to declutter.
3.      Wasteful.  Didn’t I pay for these subscriptions?
And then on top of it all, you’ve got to throw them away.  Sure, you can recycle them but again, Zero Waste is about creating less to throw in the first place.
So here are a few things to consider.
Try reading your magazines electronically this month.  See how you like it.  Did you forget about one?  If so, maybe it’s time to reconsider?
Are your kids old enough to take to the library?  Can you plunk them down in the children’s section while you grab a couple of magazines to paw through?  (Not an option for me with the baby.)
Do each of your magazines provide more diversion/beauty/information than guilt/mess/waste?
    **An even better way to measure this:  when it arrives in the mail, what’s your reaction?
                    Ecstatic:  “Everyone out of the house!  It’s Mommy-time.”
                    Neutral:  “Meh.  Crap.  Is that another dental bill?”
                    Negative:  “Sigh.  Put in on the pile.”
 
That should put it in perspective.  Now go get some fish for that fry tomorrow night.

March 6, 2014

About Me

About Me

I’ve been passionate about combatting blind consumerism since 2008 and joined the Zero Waste movement by starting this blog in 2013, soon after my second child was born. I think it might have been trying to unwrap a toy or someone’s attempt to sell me a butt-wipe warmer that put me over the edge… read more

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4 Comments

  1. IronMike

    I like electronic. I don't have one of those new Kindles, but if I did, I'd do all my magazines that way.

    Fembot does ecopage (sp?) with our old ones.

    Reply
  2. IronMike

    make that "decoupage" 😉

    Reply
  3. KD Fincher

    All those years of French and never once did we use or study decoupage. Decoupage would have been a fun way to learn 'couper' Maybe Fembot could use that in your homeschool?

    Reply
  4. KD Fincher

    I'm not a fan of electronic but I'm coming around. When I really stop and think about though, if I'm not willing to pay for it online, I don't need to have it laying around my house. I've let one subscription run out since this post. We'll see if I miss it next month. When I lived abroad I didn't miss any of them.

    Reply

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