apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

NYers have to recycle. I put mine out with the weekly pickup. When I put them out, that is.

I had a small addiction to Real Simple and ended up with about 50 magazines, which I was reluctant to part with, but couldn't make room for anymore. A few weeks ago, I put a notice on my neighborhood listserv to see if anyone wanted them, and I had several responses. (My husband was shocked.) I ended up dividing the issues among the interested folks, one of whom said her neighbor was going to take them when she was finished. She also said they will recycle them later. I felt terrific about recycling in this way, as it made my investment in the magazines seem a lot smarter.

what the heck? do people just throw them out? have i become such an environmental snob that i'm shocked to learn 80% of magazines DON'T get recycled?!

we haven't come so far, after all, hey?

i usually give mine to a school. random classes can make collages.

I take my outdoor/hiking/etc. magazines to a local Boy Scout troop, and the rest I take with me and put in the waiting room at the doctor's office. That doesn't mean they don't eventually end up in a landfill, but they get to travel around quite a bit before they do.

If anyone's interested, I have a back-stack of Architectural Digests ripe for the pickin'...

LadyJ--

"NYers have to recycle"? What prevents them (us) from hurling their (our) old Domino's down the trash shoot?

Patrick (and others) ... check with design schools in your area to see if they want your design-related magazines. My school has a "tear file" that we use all the time and the mags are always so picked through. That's where I bring my old Architectural Digests. They are pretty hard to part with, though!

robyn--
Tried that with NYSID and didn't get anywhere.

(ps: I do indeed recycle all my magazines)

I live in a huge complex and when I'm ready to discard my magazines I put them on a table in the lobby. They're gone within minutes. I'm starting to do the same with my catalogs. I mean, how many copies of Pottery Barn does one really need within the span of 2 weeks?!

p (too), your super can't put your magazines to the curb with trash. they have to sort it out and package it for pickup according to the city's current recycling rules or risk the building being fined.

i take the time to sort all of my refuse according to the rules so that my super doesn't have to waste time breaking down every little food box and sorting junk mail etc. and i personally twine my mags and place them to the curb on pickup day myself, so he won't have to carry the additional weight.

For those of you who have an addiction to a specific magazine, but guilt over tossing it immediately afterwards, there's a service called Zinio, which displays the entire magazine on your computer as a digital file. The subscription costs about the same, but there's nothing to put out in the trash or recycling when you're done...

Though I haven't tried it yet, http://www.zinio.com is the website - treehugger.com had some reviews about it a while back too, it might be worth a look...

kvh

Lady J--

I live in a building comprised of two 50-story towers, and I can all but guarantee not every tenant is being fastidious about recycling practices.

I can also guarantee that the building maintenance crew is not slogging through garbage to pull out the recyclables. Yes, there are designated areas/bins for paper and plastic/glass recycling in the trash rooms, but some still falls down the shoot and through the system's cracks.

All places don't have magazine recycling.

I only know what I personally observe which is the trash and recycling people put to the curb in my area and my own super separating, flattening, twining, boxing and/or bagging as per the city's rules which are posted all over my building.

I observe that other tenants are not as fastidious as I am. Following the rules is how *I* roll.

It's the way *I* roll, too, but your opening comment of "NYC requires it" was (imho) oversimplified, and a touch misleading.

And as for the "magazines are bad, and computer content is good," I'll say this:

Paper is renewable, and recyclable.

Last time I checked, the electricity required to run a computer to access a blog or online magazine is neither.

P2-

NYC does require recycling of paper in residential buildings, as in, it is the law. I do agree with you, however, that many people unfortunately do not follow the law.

Did anyone hear that bit on NPR the other morning about how the trash in the subway stations is actually separated? After the bags are collected, they are taken to a plant where the paper (and other recyclables) are separated out. Although I think source separation is better, I didn't know the city was truly doing that with subway trash.

Yes, I know it is a law.

But to propose "it's a law" and make it seem "case closed/problem solved" (as it felt LadyJ was doing) is (to me) a tad bit absurd.