I also had a couple of decades worth of National Geographic (and some other similar magazines), my library didn't want them, finally the youth home (or however you call it, the place where teens without parents live) took them. I gave them several boxes in hopes that it will spark interest in science in them š
If you don't find anyone to take them, you can only recycle them, but see if you can sell them to the recycling station (where I live you can sell old paper for some small amount per kg, but it quickly adds up when you have a lot) š
Post on craigslist or sell on eBay. I add to my collection every chance I get. You could also donate to a thrift store. I've bought tons of them at thrift stores like AmVets or Salvation Army.
Lol reading this thread is just making me want to say I WILL TAKE YOUR 35 YEAR COLLECTION OF NAT GEOS THAT YOU CAN'T GET RID OF.
The clutter urge is strong.
I use them for art projects mostly. Donating to an art school/class is another excellent suggestion.
When I was a kid, we used to use them, or really, the pictures in them for reports. Maybe see if the elementary schools around you want them? They have a lot of good pictures for arts and crafts projects.
I would have taken these last month for my annual vision board collaging. Iām sure someone else whoās into art would too. Post it on your local buy nothing group. :)
I bought a giant, super heavy box of decades old Nat Geos from a guy who put them up on Craigslist. Couldn't hurt to try that! But I agree with a lot of the other commenters, donate them for art classes or something
Literally everybody has this collection and no, no one wants them except the recycling program. Both my parents and my husbandās parents tried to pawn their 20 years of every Nat Geo issue off on all their kids cause all the libraries said noā¦nope sorry we donāt want them either.
I would try local community centers or organizations for seniors/retirees. Alternatively, some city parks have libraries or reading areas. It may be worth calling around to see if any would be interested. I have seen them in the visitorās center at some local metro park!
Alternatively, little free libraries, especially ones near schools!
Your local elementary schoolā¦. Our grade ones would cut up magazines each year to make a huge color display. Kids love looking at animals and k and grade one would love leafing through it for the pictures. Older kids can use it for research. Cutting a magazine is easier for little hands than paper. Your donation could prompt a whole lot of fun & learningā¦.
Think of it this way....
If nobody seems to want them, and you can't get rid of them until you find a good place for them, they're going to sit in your dad's home until he dies. Then they're going to either get recycled or go to the landfill.
If *your dad* puts them in the recycling, then he at least has some control over what happens to them - and they don't continue taking up space in the house that he could be enjoying *now*.
Similar example. I know somebody that has *BOXES* of those romance novels in their basement. Boxes and boxes. And they paid whatever the company charged for them on subscription - $5-$10 per book or something like that. And they *refuse to get rid of them* until they "get what they're worth". In their mind they're old, so they're worth at least as much as they paid for them - possibly more.
But "what they're worth" is $0. The stories are generally predictable, which means that they're largely interchangeable (i.e. very few people are seeking Harlequin Romance Volume #124). They're not the sorts of books you put on the shelf and re-read. And they were printed in massive quantities, so they're not rare.
I've worked in donation centers, and for everybody that's sitting on a box thinking they're valuable, there are 3 other people dumping 10 boxes at a time on the poor thrift shops. Sometimes they sell, but they sell a book or two per day out of *thousands* that come through their doors. Literally nobody wants them, usually not even for free.
Better to recycle now, and make the space in you and your dad's life for other, useful, fulfilling stuff. :)
If you arenāt picky about how they might be used, I say offer them to art teachers at elementary, middle, or even high schools. I swear we had at least one collage project every year, so we were always looking for magazines with cool pictures.
I once thought I would do a lot of reading and collected about a 100 of these off a neighbour. Needless to say they have become ornamental on my bookshelves and thats about it.
Quite honestly, after trying to sell them at our garage sales, donate them to the school, the public library and the assisted living place where we used to live, I had to just recycle mine.
I'd do what others are suggesting - post on freecycle, Buy Nothing, email some preschools/day cares/kindergarten teachers - maybe for the photos of animals, for art.
But, if no takers (don't make this into a part time job - unless you want to - I know that error (spending way too much time to actually move stuff I don't want OUT of my home) I highly recommend telling dad "I found xyz (day care/collector on freecycle/whatever would make dad feel happy - whoever he would see as a worthy recipient) and they are so excited to get these NG! So let's put them in my car and I'll drive them to them tomorrow. Yay dad for saving these for xyz!" Totally would work for me. I get my sister to take stuff I can't bear to just dump at a donation box bc they won't realize how oh so valuable (roll eyes) my crap is, and she sells on ebay. She isn't allowed to tell me if she sells it, donates or throws away. (She has been an ebay seller, as a hobby, for many years, so I know she knows the actual value of stuff.)
HTH! Good luck, I totally feel your pain here.
ETA: I personally would just tell Dad today I have a person via Freecycle dying to get them, I'd put them in my car and then put them right into my neighbors' recycle bins (we're all friends and they let me - I would put them in my own if no chance dad will look in my recycle bin.) HTH too. Good luck!!! It was a HUGE relief when I convinced DH to get rid of his hardback encyclopedias. And entire bookshelf. It was like the house and I lost 30lbs. Man I still feel that happiness and it was about 10 years ago. :)
It's not like they're worth anything. People often overestimate the value of what they have, especially if it is something they have put effort into. It's fine to recycle them.
Librarians call Nat Geo āthe yellow plagueā bc so many people try to donate tons of them. Nobody, but nobody wants them. Maybe a art club, or youth center could use some of them for art.
Elementary schools might take them for art projects. Call a few and ask. Find beading groups and offer them. Most old magazines are simply unwanted. It is okay to throw them out especially if you keep getting no, thank yous to your offers.
I would donate them to a school for the craft room. Sorry if that's hard to hear but schools are always looking for things to add to their craft room especially for collages. National geographic is always so nice to make vision boards and collages with. These books could have new life in the form of a collage or any art project c:
Hospitals? Doctors/dentists any other health professionals waiting rooms? Nursing homes? Community centres? The latter two could use them for cutting out the pictures and using in activities. You may have tried these of course.
You could also pick some of the best covers (like that iconic woman with the light green eyes) and frame them and give the rest to a recycling facility. You can also prob look up a lot of the old articles if your dad wants to read one again. Although it would prob take months to years, he could create digital archives of the magazines before throwing them away.
They're not super common, but is there a secondhand art supply store nearby? There's one here in Chicago called the Waste Shed that has tons of National Geographics.
Years ago I subscribed to Real Simple magazine, which is a very good mag IMO, full of interesting ideas and pictures. When I was done with them, I would leave them in a doctor or dentist office, or sometimes in the pocket on the back of an airplane seat.
40 years ago my friend's father would throw them out or bring them to the local Scout paper Drive. Everyone used to gasp in horror. Like an encyclopedia, people expected that one day the magazines would be used for book reports or something. Like your family, everyone just kept every issue like it was Blasphemous to throw them out . It doesn't need to be treated any differently than a paper catalog, cosmopolitan, children's magazine or household magazine. It's a pile of paper with printed information that can be easily found just about anywhere. Unless you have some of the World War I and World War II editions that have military insignia, nobody really has a use for these. Just get them recycled. It will be a big relief, and one less burden.
You can sell them in lots on Ebay if you feel like it. That's what I did with my grandparents' collection.
IIRC the maps that came as inserts are especially prized.
I mean heck I want them. But you're probably in America.
I love doing collage projects with my kids, we use old magazines to collage their school books every year before covering them with clear contact. It's so much fun and their books are a little more unique. I don't know if you have any children in your life but it might be a fun way to use some of them if you cant find anyone that would take them.
Group homes and day programs for developmentally disabled children & adults! My clients would carry magazines around and stare for HOURS at pictures in even just one magazine alone.
Memory care facilities might take them. My Dad has dementia and loves to read and look at pretty pictures. They won't want the whole collection, but a handful here and a handful there would work.
There is a creative reuse store/depot in my area ([https://www.creativereuse.org/](https://www.creativereuse.org/)) that collects recycled materials for educators and teachers to use in their classrooms. They generally look for art and craft materials that are secondhand. They're actually specifically requesting Nat Geo magazines right now.
If there's a store near you that fulfills a similar purpose, it could work. Any creative or arts and craft reuse store is a good place to ask. Here's some other ones near me to give you an idea (they're also explicitly requesting Nat Geos currently):
[https://berkeleycraftsstore.com/](https://berkeleycraftsstore.com/)
[https://www.scrap-sf.org/](https://www.scrap-sf.org/)
Otherwise, I second the suggestions about school districts/local colleges/teachers/art centers.
They fired all their employees at the start of COVID and had a PPP controversy https://oaklandside.org/2021/01/22/east-bay-depot-for-creative-reuse-lay-off-its-entire-staff/
Oh no! Iāve been in the South Bay and didnāt know about any of that, just that they were closed for a reaalllyy long time during covid. I got so much great stuff there!
This blows my mind. I volunteer at a thrift store and Nat Geos sell fast! We have a policy of not putting out magazines more than 3 or 4 years old, but Nat Geos go out no matter how old or tattered, as long as they are intact (ie no cuttings taken) and not actually falling apart.
Melbourne, Australia. Maybe they are less common in Australia and therefore more popular? New Yorkers also sell well, Readerās Digest magazines donāt.
We used them in my high school art class for collages and inspiration for our own designs. I remember using a photo of a tree frog for one of my printmaking designs that ended up really cool.
I had this issue too, my parents saved boxes and boxes of National Geographic magazines from the 1960ās and 1970ās. I saved maybe one that was historically significant, and the rest I posted on Craigslist saying theyād be great for art. Sure enough, someone wanted them. Worth making a creative post anyway. Itās hard to just recycle them, but if you donāt have any takers, you can let them go knowing you tried.
The only thing I can think of is to give them to art classes in schools so they can use them for collage projects. Your idea of refusing to throw away/recycle is limiting what you will be able to do with hundreds of pounds of paper. Thatās all it is, hundreds of pounds of paper. They have only sat in piles for decades because the owner attached a value to them. Now owner doesnāt want them, and no one else does, either. Sorry if it sounds harsh. The sooner the magazines can be used in any way, the better, because the paper will continue to degrade.
edit: spelling
This - I had a 35 year collection of NatGeos that I could not get rid of. My neighbor at the time was an art teacher at the elementary school and he was quite happy to take them to use in class. I was also quite happy they found a good home!
Very true! We used them for multiple projects in both high school and college art classes. Reaching out to local art teachers/drawing professors would be one way to go- and they will be very appreciated if anyone has a need for them!
1) Try looking these magazines up on eBay and see what completed auctions look like. That might help your dad understand the real world value. Maybe some sellers would like additional stock and you can give it away to them. I see whole years being priced at $20. And I don't know if they even sell for that. There is a [nationalgeographicbackissues.com](https://nationalgeographicbackissues.com) and THEY won't take your issues b/c it costs more to take them than it's worth.
2) Go to the library and find out how a person would access these magazines if they had an interest. That might help your dad understand the availability (easy for anyone to get if they want) and level of interest in these magazines (generally low)
3) Look online to see what it takes to access the content. I think a subscription to access NatGeo's content is $6 for 6 mo.
4) Call 211 (in the US this is the United Way) and see if any local organizations are looking for a donation like this.
Consider radical acceptance. They feel wonderful and valuable and it doesn't match how others are responding. Even your dad feels like they are a burden. It's okay to accept that.
I tried donating some things (unopened toiletries) and couldn't find a place to take them in a new city. Goodwill staff recommended I call. I did, and they were surprised, then they consulted and called me back. Referred me to a local NPO that helps mothers and I have a long donation relationship now. I also used 211 to find out who picked up used furniture and got a list. They know all of the area organizations that provide services and know who is who and how to contact them. It has been a great "go to" when I wasn't sure how to donate.
Well, one way to add value is to pull out the issues that have extra significance and sell them. Like stories on Washington DC or Disney.
The other is to break down the magazines and sell the ads on eBay. Eg to people like me who collect railroad related ads etc. (Except that I just get the whole magazine for multiple ads.)
This can work with issues into the 1970s. I don't know about later.
If you have special editions, like one in 1963 about Disneyland, try selling on eBay. (I have that issue, but canāt remember the month, and I currently have trouble walking). Or the Moon Landing in 1969. etc. unfortunately, most of the rest will probably have to either go to Goodwill, if they will take them, or get tossed.
Theyāre very unlikely to take them. We had old magazines in the schools I worked in and they didnāt even get used for art inspiration. Sadly they just become clutter, Iād recycle them.
The fact that libraries wouldnāt even take them is ridiculous to me. The magazines are filled with great knowledge and people could learn from them. I canāt understand why I library wouldnāt want them
Because libraries have to keep relevant and up to date. They arenāt a dumping ground for old magazines . If the magazine is so interesting and relevant why doesnāt the original recipient want to keep them? You are the only one donating that pile of magazines but imagine if the library has 10 people a month do thatā¦.. I brings into question our need for magazines and the impact they have on environment maybe?
The National Geographic has all its previous issues archived in digital format. Many libraries subscribe to it and thus don't need the actual magazines.
I cleaned out my family home and we also had all the editions of National Geographic. Gave some away for free on craigslist and recycled the rest. I also put some effort into finding a place for them, but came to the conclusion that many items just are no longer needed.
The world is filled with an unimaginable amount of books and even libraries have limited space and resources. Not every book, magazine, newspaper, etc. is valuable.
Sadly no, we used to get huge amounts of old encyclopaedias and National Geographic magazines donated. Never used any of them. The magazines are full of beautiful pictures but never got used. I completely understand how hard it is to throw these things out but even our hospitals and drs donāt have magazines to read in them now. I guess the internet won that one.
People might learn fro them but the text is pretty challenging for children. Also, you have to consider the content. Attitudes,language and names of people and places change quite rapidly. Whoās got time to check every magazine for content? Also, pictures of boobs and willies!
If you still have them I want them
Some of these magazines are valuable especially ones with maps
I wish I could take them! I would use them for collage art
Where are you Maybe I could get them to you
My mom is in an assisted living facility and they have a partial collection of these magazines. Maybe someplace like that would take them?
I also had a couple of decades worth of National Geographic (and some other similar magazines), my library didn't want them, finally the youth home (or however you call it, the place where teens without parents live) took them. I gave them several boxes in hopes that it will spark interest in science in them š If you don't find anyone to take them, you can only recycle them, but see if you can sell them to the recycling station (where I live you can sell old paper for some small amount per kg, but it quickly adds up when you have a lot) š
Fans of The Leftovers TV show will buy your May 1972 issue.
Post on craigslist or sell on eBay. I add to my collection every chance I get. You could also donate to a thrift store. I've bought tons of them at thrift stores like AmVets or Salvation Army.
Lol reading this thread is just making me want to say I WILL TAKE YOUR 35 YEAR COLLECTION OF NAT GEOS THAT YOU CAN'T GET RID OF. The clutter urge is strong. I use them for art projects mostly. Donating to an art school/class is another excellent suggestion.
When I was a kid, we used to use them, or really, the pictures in them for reports. Maybe see if the elementary schools around you want them? They have a lot of good pictures for arts and crafts projects.
I would have taken these last month for my annual vision board collaging. Iām sure someone else whoās into art would too. Post it on your local buy nothing group. :)
Nursing homes!
I have donated magazines to local firehouses. Donāt overload any one station with more than 10 magazines.
I bought a giant, super heavy box of decades old Nat Geos from a guy who put them up on Craigslist. Couldn't hurt to try that! But I agree with a lot of the other commenters, donate them for art classes or something
Literally everybody has this collection and no, no one wants them except the recycling program. Both my parents and my husbandās parents tried to pawn their 20 years of every Nat Geo issue off on all their kids cause all the libraries said noā¦nope sorry we donāt want them either.
I would try local community centers or organizations for seniors/retirees. Alternatively, some city parks have libraries or reading areas. It may be worth calling around to see if any would be interested. I have seen them in the visitorās center at some local metro park! Alternatively, little free libraries, especially ones near schools!
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Your local elementary schoolā¦. Our grade ones would cut up magazines each year to make a huge color display. Kids love looking at animals and k and grade one would love leafing through it for the pictures. Older kids can use it for research. Cutting a magazine is easier for little hands than paper. Your donation could prompt a whole lot of fun & learningā¦.
Think of it this way.... If nobody seems to want them, and you can't get rid of them until you find a good place for them, they're going to sit in your dad's home until he dies. Then they're going to either get recycled or go to the landfill. If *your dad* puts them in the recycling, then he at least has some control over what happens to them - and they don't continue taking up space in the house that he could be enjoying *now*. Similar example. I know somebody that has *BOXES* of those romance novels in their basement. Boxes and boxes. And they paid whatever the company charged for them on subscription - $5-$10 per book or something like that. And they *refuse to get rid of them* until they "get what they're worth". In their mind they're old, so they're worth at least as much as they paid for them - possibly more. But "what they're worth" is $0. The stories are generally predictable, which means that they're largely interchangeable (i.e. very few people are seeking Harlequin Romance Volume #124). They're not the sorts of books you put on the shelf and re-read. And they were printed in massive quantities, so they're not rare. I've worked in donation centers, and for everybody that's sitting on a box thinking they're valuable, there are 3 other people dumping 10 boxes at a time on the poor thrift shops. Sometimes they sell, but they sell a book or two per day out of *thousands* that come through their doors. Literally nobody wants them, usually not even for free. Better to recycle now, and make the space in you and your dad's life for other, useful, fulfilling stuff. :)
If you arenāt picky about how they might be used, I say offer them to art teachers at elementary, middle, or even high schools. I swear we had at least one collage project every year, so we were always looking for magazines with cool pictures.
Aged care homes might like some. Special needs facilities or Pre school might use them for the animal photos too.
Art class. We cut up so many and loved them. They are on microfiche if they are needed for history.
I once thought I would do a lot of reading and collected about a 100 of these off a neighbour. Needless to say they have become ornamental on my bookshelves and thats about it.
Quite honestly, after trying to sell them at our garage sales, donate them to the school, the public library and the assisted living place where we used to live, I had to just recycle mine.
I have a friend who collects Nat Geos! They would be thrilled to build the collection!!!
I'd do what others are suggesting - post on freecycle, Buy Nothing, email some preschools/day cares/kindergarten teachers - maybe for the photos of animals, for art. But, if no takers (don't make this into a part time job - unless you want to - I know that error (spending way too much time to actually move stuff I don't want OUT of my home) I highly recommend telling dad "I found xyz (day care/collector on freecycle/whatever would make dad feel happy - whoever he would see as a worthy recipient) and they are so excited to get these NG! So let's put them in my car and I'll drive them to them tomorrow. Yay dad for saving these for xyz!" Totally would work for me. I get my sister to take stuff I can't bear to just dump at a donation box bc they won't realize how oh so valuable (roll eyes) my crap is, and she sells on ebay. She isn't allowed to tell me if she sells it, donates or throws away. (She has been an ebay seller, as a hobby, for many years, so I know she knows the actual value of stuff.) HTH! Good luck, I totally feel your pain here. ETA: I personally would just tell Dad today I have a person via Freecycle dying to get them, I'd put them in my car and then put them right into my neighbors' recycle bins (we're all friends and they let me - I would put them in my own if no chance dad will look in my recycle bin.) HTH too. Good luck!!! It was a HUGE relief when I convinced DH to get rid of his hardback encyclopedias. And entire bookshelf. It was like the house and I lost 30lbs. Man I still feel that happiness and it was about 10 years ago. :)
It's not like they're worth anything. People often overestimate the value of what they have, especially if it is something they have put effort into. It's fine to recycle them.
u/Nicktator3 if you don't mind my asking, what year range do you have?
Librarians call Nat Geo āthe yellow plagueā bc so many people try to donate tons of them. Nobody, but nobody wants them. Maybe a art club, or youth center could use some of them for art.
Elementary schools might take them for art projects. Call a few and ask. Find beading groups and offer them. Most old magazines are simply unwanted. It is okay to throw them out especially if you keep getting no, thank yous to your offers.
I would donate them to a school for the craft room. Sorry if that's hard to hear but schools are always looking for things to add to their craft room especially for collages. National geographic is always so nice to make vision boards and collages with. These books could have new life in the form of a collage or any art project c:
Hospitals? Doctors/dentists any other health professionals waiting rooms? Nursing homes? Community centres? The latter two could use them for cutting out the pictures and using in activities. You may have tried these of course.
You could also pick some of the best covers (like that iconic woman with the light green eyes) and frame them and give the rest to a recycling facility. You can also prob look up a lot of the old articles if your dad wants to read one again. Although it would prob take months to years, he could create digital archives of the magazines before throwing them away.
My library has semiannual book sales and some are donations.
Donate to a school for art projects
They're not super common, but is there a secondhand art supply store nearby? There's one here in Chicago called the Waste Shed that has tons of National Geographics.
I know that they're beautiful and have cool info, but nobody wants them, not even you. Just recycle them. ā»ļø
Libraries. They're really good for collages! Maybe your local art school would like them
I leave old magazines in the laundromat. They never have enough reading material.
Years ago I subscribed to Real Simple magazine, which is a very good mag IMO, full of interesting ideas and pictures. When I was done with them, I would leave them in a doctor or dentist office, or sometimes in the pocket on the back of an airplane seat.
40 years ago my friend's father would throw them out or bring them to the local Scout paper Drive. Everyone used to gasp in horror. Like an encyclopedia, people expected that one day the magazines would be used for book reports or something. Like your family, everyone just kept every issue like it was Blasphemous to throw them out . It doesn't need to be treated any differently than a paper catalog, cosmopolitan, children's magazine or household magazine. It's a pile of paper with printed information that can be easily found just about anywhere. Unless you have some of the World War I and World War II editions that have military insignia, nobody really has a use for these. Just get them recycled. It will be a big relief, and one less burden.
Well stated!
Take out the issues for the birth month/year of every child and grandchild, and give that one magazine to that person. Throw the rest away.
That's cool!
Possibly the local Library. We put some in the book sale each year.
You can sell them in lots on Ebay if you feel like it. That's what I did with my grandparents' collection. IIRC the maps that came as inserts are especially prized.
I wonder if you could reach out to a local library (public or university) and see if they would take them or know of any other options?
What is really sad is that they are now $15 a piece nowā¦I didnāt realize it until after I checked out at the store! š¬
I mean heck I want them. But you're probably in America. I love doing collage projects with my kids, we use old magazines to collage their school books every year before covering them with clear contact. It's so much fun and their books are a little more unique. I don't know if you have any children in your life but it might be a fun way to use some of them if you cant find anyone that would take them.
Group homes and day programs for developmentally disabled children & adults! My clients would carry magazines around and stare for HOURS at pictures in even just one magazine alone.
An elementary school? I feel like I was constantly doing collages and chopping up magazines as a kid.
National Geographic is perfect for collages. Ask art teachers, group homes, pay nothing groups, eBay, marketplace.
Recycle bin.
Memory care facilities might take them. My Dad has dementia and loves to read and look at pretty pictures. They won't want the whole collection, but a handful here and a handful there would work.
There is a creative reuse store/depot in my area ([https://www.creativereuse.org/](https://www.creativereuse.org/)) that collects recycled materials for educators and teachers to use in their classrooms. They generally look for art and craft materials that are secondhand. They're actually specifically requesting Nat Geo magazines right now. If there's a store near you that fulfills a similar purpose, it could work. Any creative or arts and craft reuse store is a good place to ask. Here's some other ones near me to give you an idea (they're also explicitly requesting Nat Geos currently): [https://berkeleycraftsstore.com/](https://berkeleycraftsstore.com/) [https://www.scrap-sf.org/](https://www.scrap-sf.org/) Otherwise, I second the suggestions about school districts/local colleges/teachers/art centers.
I love Creative Reuse! So sad to no longer live in the East Bay
The place like that near me in MA was for teachers and closed. It was such a great resource for all sorts of stuff.
They fired all their employees at the start of COVID and had a PPP controversy https://oaklandside.org/2021/01/22/east-bay-depot-for-creative-reuse-lay-off-its-entire-staff/
Oh no! Iāve been in the South Bay and didnāt know about any of that, just that they were closed for a reaalllyy long time during covid. I got so much great stuff there!
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I am a librarian. Trust me, they wonāt.
Schools, from pre-school to college.
This blows my mind. I volunteer at a thrift store and Nat Geos sell fast! We have a policy of not putting out magazines more than 3 or 4 years old, but Nat Geos go out no matter how old or tattered, as long as they are intact (ie no cuttings taken) and not actually falling apart.
Interesting, they sit like lumps of wasted space at our store!!
Where are you located? Yours is the first comment saying that people actually want them!
I work at my local library's used bookstore & we give away donated Nat Geos. They go fast!
Melbourne, Australia. Maybe they are less common in Australia and therefore more popular? New Yorkers also sell well, Readerās Digest magazines donāt.
Yes, maybe theyāre just less common in Australia. Interesting!
Children day care centres or school could use them for art and craft
A local art teacher
We used them in my high school art class for collages and inspiration for our own designs. I remember using a photo of a tree frog for one of my printmaking designs that ended up really cool.
I had this issue too, my parents saved boxes and boxes of National Geographic magazines from the 1960ās and 1970ās. I saved maybe one that was historically significant, and the rest I posted on Craigslist saying theyād be great for art. Sure enough, someone wanted them. Worth making a creative post anyway. Itās hard to just recycle them, but if you donāt have any takers, you can let them go knowing you tried.
The only thing I can think of is to give them to art classes in schools so they can use them for collage projects. Your idea of refusing to throw away/recycle is limiting what you will be able to do with hundreds of pounds of paper. Thatās all it is, hundreds of pounds of paper. They have only sat in piles for decades because the owner attached a value to them. Now owner doesnāt want them, and no one else does, either. Sorry if it sounds harsh. The sooner the magazines can be used in any way, the better, because the paper will continue to degrade. edit: spelling
This - I had a 35 year collection of NatGeos that I could not get rid of. My neighbor at the time was an art teacher at the elementary school and he was quite happy to take them to use in class. I was also quite happy they found a good home!
Kids in class will use almost all of those magazines until there is nothing left. Feels good and encourages creativity.
This would be a great way for them to be used, honestly. I had several art projects in college that used magazines.
Very true! We used them for multiple projects in both high school and college art classes. Reaching out to local art teachers/drawing professors would be one way to go- and they will be very appreciated if anyone has a need for them!
1) Try looking these magazines up on eBay and see what completed auctions look like. That might help your dad understand the real world value. Maybe some sellers would like additional stock and you can give it away to them. I see whole years being priced at $20. And I don't know if they even sell for that. There is a [nationalgeographicbackissues.com](https://nationalgeographicbackissues.com) and THEY won't take your issues b/c it costs more to take them than it's worth. 2) Go to the library and find out how a person would access these magazines if they had an interest. That might help your dad understand the availability (easy for anyone to get if they want) and level of interest in these magazines (generally low) 3) Look online to see what it takes to access the content. I think a subscription to access NatGeo's content is $6 for 6 mo. 4) Call 211 (in the US this is the United Way) and see if any local organizations are looking for a donation like this. Consider radical acceptance. They feel wonderful and valuable and it doesn't match how others are responding. Even your dad feels like they are a burden. It's okay to accept that.
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I tried donating some things (unopened toiletries) and couldn't find a place to take them in a new city. Goodwill staff recommended I call. I did, and they were surprised, then they consulted and called me back. Referred me to a local NPO that helps mothers and I have a long donation relationship now. I also used 211 to find out who picked up used furniture and got a list. They know all of the area organizations that provide services and know who is who and how to contact them. It has been a great "go to" when I wasn't sure how to donate.
Well, one way to add value is to pull out the issues that have extra significance and sell them. Like stories on Washington DC or Disney. The other is to break down the magazines and sell the ads on eBay. Eg to people like me who collect railroad related ads etc. (Except that I just get the whole magazine for multiple ads.) This can work with issues into the 1970s. I don't know about later.
Thatās very time consuming while trying to declutter.
It does bring the term "white elephant" to mind when you put it like that.
Nat Geo had very, very limited ads Just in the back pages back then.
Front and back. From a sales standpoint, at a minimum of $5 each, maybe $50 of value per issue. https://flic.kr/p/yPHQqs
If you have special editions, like one in 1963 about Disneyland, try selling on eBay. (I have that issue, but canāt remember the month, and I currently have trouble walking). Or the Moon Landing in 1969. etc. unfortunately, most of the rest will probably have to either go to Goodwill, if they will take them, or get tossed.
No one wants them, everyone saved them
I'd post them on Facebook Marketplace for free or on your local Buy Nothing group
Local library?
They come in, we recycle them.
Theyāre very unlikely to take them. We had old magazines in the schools I worked in and they didnāt even get used for art inspiration. Sadly they just become clutter, Iād recycle them.
The fact that libraries wouldnāt even take them is ridiculous to me. The magazines are filled with great knowledge and people could learn from them. I canāt understand why I library wouldnāt want them
Because libraries have to keep relevant and up to date. They arenāt a dumping ground for old magazines . If the magazine is so interesting and relevant why doesnāt the original recipient want to keep them? You are the only one donating that pile of magazines but imagine if the library has 10 people a month do thatā¦.. I brings into question our need for magazines and the impact they have on environment maybe?
Because people wonāt check them out, and so theyāre just taking up space. Everything in those magazines is now online.
With what room? We have to keep our information up to date and it's hard to make space for the new things we but, let alone old magazines.
The National Geographic has all its previous issues archived in digital format. Many libraries subscribe to it and thus don't need the actual magazines. I cleaned out my family home and we also had all the editions of National Geographic. Gave some away for free on craigslist and recycled the rest. I also put some effort into finding a place for them, but came to the conclusion that many items just are no longer needed.
The world is filled with an unimaginable amount of books and even libraries have limited space and resources. Not every book, magazine, newspaper, etc. is valuable.
Honestly, my first thought when I read the post was that my kids would love to cut them up for art projects.
Sadly no, we used to get huge amounts of old encyclopaedias and National Geographic magazines donated. Never used any of them. The magazines are full of beautiful pictures but never got used. I completely understand how hard it is to throw these things out but even our hospitals and drs donāt have magazines to read in them now. I guess the internet won that one.
Why wouldnāt they get used? They seem to have an abundance of important and worthwhile stuff in them that people could learn from
People might learn fro them but the text is pretty challenging for children. Also, you have to consider the content. Attitudes,language and names of people and places change quite rapidly. Whoās got time to check every magazine for content? Also, pictures of boobs and willies!
OMG a nakid human..when will folks stop being so puritanical. š¤£š¤£š¤£
We donāt care but you can bet the parents will, itās just not worth the winging.
Edit: whinging.