Unsubscribed

This last year I had a stack 2 feet high of 6 months of unread magazines. Magazines that I proceeded to flip through quickly and donate to my library because I really wasn't interested in their content anymore.

Quitting magazines is a big deal. I love print. Beyond print I love layout and design, straight lines and color. I've worked in print since I was laying out my high school yearbook, and today I still design and layout print. I love flipping and earmarking pages, even the smell of freshly printed pages.

My love of print goes back even further. I remember flipping through Disney Adventure magazines in long grocery lines as a kid. As a tween, waiting for my mom to finish shopping for produce while I flipped through Bop magazine. As a teen I would pour over the pages of Seventeen, ripping out pages and pasting them back together to make collages I hung on my bedroom walls. Early in college I tried the distasteful Cosmo, and then moved onto Glamour. I've had subscriptions to Runners Magazine, Latina and Self. My most recent subscriptions to Martha Stewart, Eating Well and Better Homes and Garden, now cancelled.

I am officially unsubscribed.

If I have learned anything through my relationship with magazines it is that my interests change, sometimes quickly, not even surviving a year’s subscription. The earth, the landfill, and the recycling center don’t have to be impacted by my wavering interests. In this digital age there are many alternatives. Instead I subscribe (and unsubscribe) to blogs. I follow Pinterest boards and sign up for newsletters. I am better at finding time to read these medias. The best part? Most are free, don’t take up space and are zero waste.

Even though many say print is dead, I’ll continue to love it. While the world has been digitizing for many years, I've finally caught up. I’m still reading the information I want, without the clutter and waste.

* This post is part of the 30 day XOXOrganizing Challenge: Day 14 Donate Unused Books and Magazines