after the read: my top five green ideas for magazine recycling.

i have guilt about magazines. i love them, but feel like i'm not doing the environment any good by reading them. i always think to myself, "i'm sure this information is online, right?" oftentimes, i succumb to temptation and greedily snatch up a few at the check-out line. (or even worse, i actually subscribed to "us" with a gift card this year!) here are some ways i reduce the waste - and my guilt:

1. reuse. i give magazines to my mom, who then passes them along to the other family members.
2. donate. when my dad was in the hospital for an extended length of time, i could never get enough magazines read to take my mind off of worrying. pop by your local hospital waiting room and drop-off a stack of (preferably current) mags. you can do the same at your local hair or nail salon, car wash or university cafeteria.
3. recycle. sometimes my magazines are too old to give away or donate (hello "martha stewart" from 2001), so they are recycled. i feel pretty good about recycling, since ..."recycled paper saves 60%  of the energy needed to make new paper," according to earth 911.
4. craft. do something crafty with those mags. i like this easy 10-minute idea from apartment therapy that creates little tables using magazines.
5. wrap. use cool ads from magazines to wrap gifts. you can also use your paper shredder to create  filler for gift boxes and packing material for shipping.