A friend posted on her blog, Building Cathedrals, about giving magazine subscriptions as a gift for the holidays for her kids. “American Girl and the Cricket magazines have been hits here, as well as Magnifikid, Which Way USA and Top Secret from Highlights.” I thought it was a great idea that can also extend to adults. I’ve been meaning to write about the various magazines that I receive and thought this would be a great stepping off point. Today, I want to cover the “green theme” magazines that I get, what I like about them and how I find them to be helpful. I get a variety of ones as subscriptions. But, for a couple of these, I will just grab them at the store if there are enough articles or features that appeal to me in that particular issue. I am a consummate “dog-earer” with articles or pictures that I enjoy in each issue. I have become more adept at using Pinterest to tag pictures and ideas that I would like to use in decorating our home, planting our garden and playing in our kitchen. However, some articles are just too good to not rip out, pop in a PVC-free sleeve and place in my home binders (But, that is another post to come on how I am reclaiming my office space one knitting pattern, recipe or home tip article at a time). Below are my top favorite green magazines.
Whole Living is a Martha Stewart publication, which used to be called Body & Soul. It is about how to live a balanced life and offers tips on eating healthy, having a positive frame of mind, practicing relaxation methods, cooking fabulous recipes and using healthy and safe beauty products. This is definitely one that I look forward to getting each month. I find the articles to be well written and informative as well as being seasonally based. I feel like Martha has directed this magazine well since she acquired it. This is one that definitely has at least three earmarked pages each month. They are doing a deal now to get 10 issues for $10. The website also has a ton of extra info. I am not sure if there is a digital subscription for tablet computers, but I would imagine it is not too far behind in development if it doesn’t already exist.
This is my newest subscription and also one for which I cannot wait for it to arrive! (Let’s be honest, I’m excited for all of these to show up at my doorstep. I weeded out the ones that weren’t all that great years ago or had gone downhill in quality – yes, I’m talking to you Real Simple). But, back to Hobby Farm Home. Such a cute name delivers a fantastic magazine. With great tips on cooking from scratch, canning and preserving, planting flowers to attract wildlife and glean your own birdseed, and well written articles about families who have made a go of living off of the land. It’s not a hardcore, off-the-grid type of magazine, but instead offers great advice, information and suggestions on how to make your life simpler and more authentic. I definitely renew this one for a 2 year subscription instead of just 1 year at a time. Digital editions opf back issues are available at this time, and the current subscription deal is 6 issues for $15.
If I ever go totally off the grid, I’m taking this magazine with me. By far the most technical and informative of the magazines that I get, Mother Earth News is a go-to once we get ready to plan the garden each year. They have great monthly articles about one specific vegetable or fruit and how to grow it sustainable and successfully. I used to keep whole issues of this because so many pages would get dog-eared. But, in the great magazine streamlining of 2011, I’ve pared it down to articles to keep and tags on Pinterest. The magazine offers great information about how to live with solar energy, tons of DIY advice and generally makes you want to wake up at the crack of dawn to feed chickens. It’s a powerful motivator and I love it. They are also doing a 1 year for $10 deal and you can get a mailed subscription, mailed and free digital or just a digital subscription.
Straight from some of my heroes, Maria Rodale and family, comes Organic Gardening. This is another great “how to” magazine that delivers the information is the most aesthetically pleasing way. Just flipping through it for the pictures is a real treat, and then you discover how well written it all is. Awesome! This is the most expensive of the bunch. It is typically 6 issues for under $24, but they are offering a Thanksgiving deal for 6 issues for $9.97. An iPad edition is available too. I never hesitate to renew, no matter what the cost is. The website and blogs are also great and they even offer a good online video series to help you learn about compost, crops, and cooking, among other things.
I’ve been getting Natural Home for about a decade. It is one of my favorite resources for being green in the home. They always have great features on how to clean green, how to find green paints, tiles, countertops, etc. and fabulous tours of homes that have done beautiful green renovations. They have a digital edition available and the current deal is 6 issues for $14.95 if you pay by credit card on the website, or $19.95 if you choose the Bill Me Later option.
Photo courtesy of Birds & Blooms
Birds & Blooms is a magazine that my mom will grab for me at Wegmans and we’ll share the copy that she gets. It’s got great little tidbits about what flowers to grow where and to attract which birds and insects. Cute pictures are a mainstay and they have cute projects to do with your kids, like bowling ball ladybugs for the garden. They have a digital edition for the Nook, which is available as a single issue ($3.99) or subscription ($1 per issue). The basic subscription deal that is currently running is 7 issues for about $13.
Urban Farm is a sister publication with Hobby Farms and Hobby Farm Home. I’ll leaf through it at Whole Foods or Barnes and Noble to see if I want to buy the whole issue. It hasn’t had enough for me to garner a subscription, but can have some really good articles and how-tos if you are going green in the urban jungle. This is also available in a digital edition and the subscription offer is 6 issues for $15. Digital back issues are also available for $4.99 an issue.
I hope these magazines give you some ideas for presents for your friends and family or even for yourself. Keep it green by going digital, recycling your paper edition when you are finished, sharing a subscription with a friend or friends, or clipping off your address label and see if your doctor or dentist offices or school would like it for their office or the teachers’ lounge.
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