Now that it is April, and hopefully getting warmer where you are, I am sure you have thought about Spring Cleaning. One issue I have noticed a lot of car guys and gearheads have is the perpetual problem old car and auto magazines lying around and stacking up. What are you supposed to do with all those old car magazines?
Spring is a time of rejuvenation and reflection and doing a little bit of Spring Cleaning is the perfect time to think about this issue facing many auto enthusiasts out there with stack of car magazines. The way I see it we have several different options for clearing our your car magainzes;
Keep ALL your Car Magazines
This is obviously what most of would like to do, keep all our precious car magazines! If you are going to do this you better make effort to buy magazine holders or racks and sort them properly. Does that really make sense though? No, not really. Also you know there will be complaints about keeping all the old car magazines in the house from your significant other. You probably have to make space for that new couch.
Only keep some of your Car Magazines
This requires you going through all your old car magazines and seeing which articles in certain issues are useful and important and which are not. This requires a bit of time and effort but all Spring Cleaning does. Something to think about is that a lot of the articles in printed magazines are available online nowadays. If you are like me and like having print books and magazines around this makes sense. zz9I guess I am old school even though I am young.)
Recycle the Magazines
If you don't think you need the magazines anymore, and they are not worth much, probably you should just recycle them. Please don't throw them in garbage! When I say Recycle I mean Recycle. It is better for you and the magazines as they will have second life as shiny new car magazines arriving in your mailbox.
Donate
Does your kids school or a community center need materials for craft projects? This way your old car magazines could be turned into art for more people to enjoy. There are also options like offering them on Craigslist or Freecycle to someone that does want or need them. If you live in Maryland or around here you could take them to the BookThing. I take a lot of my old magazines that are non car related to the Bookthing when I do my spring cleaning.
Sell
You could try your entrepreneurial spirit and try to make some bucks off those magazines. Your annual spring cleaning could you turn you a profit. Put those magazines on eBay or Craigslist and see who wants them. FYI – When I have tried this option I usually fail. Most people who are interested in those old magazines probably have them and are facing the some dilemma as you. Unless the car magazines you have are old, rare, and in good shape I doubt you will get much for them.
Bathroom
If you can't donate or sell your old car magazines and are planning to recycle them, why not use them in the bathroom first? Sounds funny, but it makes sense! You can read issues you didn't have time to read and get use out of them before you do number 3 and recycle the magazines. Just realize once a magazine is “flagged” that is past the point of no return.
Honestly, I wish I had better answers to this gearhead problem. For my Spring Cleaning I will going through my old issues of Automobile, MotorTrend, Car & Driver, and SportsCar (SCCA‘s magazine and newsletter)to see what I should do. I will say that I don't really like MotorTrend's editorial direction and most likely will recycle issues with bad writing. (Quite a lot of them actually.) I like Automobile and Car & Driver's articles so I will keep those to study. It's hard to know without looking at the magazines though. I might look at them and have to keep them all! 🙂
If you have a better solution, answer, or advice to this issue please leave a comment below and let the community know.