“Paper may be an energy hog, but so, too, are the servers and desktops that make online newspapers possible,” explains Brendan Koerner in a fascinating Slate.com piece. “Researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have estimated that the average server consumes 4,505 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, a figure that includes the power used to cool the hardware.” There’s something to the “subscribe & save” module in more than one way. “Sixty percent of most magazines at the newsstand aren’t sold and have to be hauled off to the trash dump — a waste of time money and energy(1)” So save money and enjoy the convenience of delivery with magazine subscriptions for your favorite periodicals.
4 Ways to Reuse and Recycle Old Magazines
Decorate: You could use them for decorating presents. Considering that if 40 percent of households reduced their paper wrapping consumption by just two sheets this year, the savings could gift-wrap Manhattan Island (1). Paper Chains: Or you could turn them into one of kid’s favorite countdown tools: a paper chain! Holidays: It’s a little early for Christmas, but I like turning them into magazine trees. Yoga Prop: Although, this past week I found my favorite new use — yoga props for that “formidable face pose” that has been eluding me in my practice for sometime now.
(1) The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the planet One Simple Step at a Time, by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostige. (Three Rivers Press 2007) photo credit: Annie Spratt
