How does the borg count placements, what is reported and tabulated by the congregations or by how much goes out the doors of their printing facilities? Out of all the lit printed, how much of it gets read? How much lit gets stacked away gathering dust, thrown away and discarded each month? Tons & tons. What a waste.
Tons and tons of literature
by pontoon 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Ding
Even worse than all the WT literature that is discarded is all the WT literature that is actually read and believed by someone.
That's the real waste.
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breakfast of champions
We have an RV who collects everything: trains, mugs, stamps, coins, flags - you name it. He invited us in one day to show us part of his puzzle collection, and lo-and-behold I saw yet another collection-- 6" stack of mint condition, never-been-opened-or-read watchtower and awake mags.
So that accounts for some of the tons and tons....
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lilbluekitty
I had a whole box-full of literature that I just put in the shed to let it rot (I don't agree with JW beliefs anymore but I can't seem to get rid of the books and things since I spent 26 years of my life a JW), and let me tell you, it was heavy! I was getting bad with meeting attendance (I was fading but didn't know it at the time) and I don't know why but every time I went to the meetings they'd give me huge stacks of magazines I'd missed and then my family up north mailed me the same ones so now I have this giant collection and don't know what to do with it other than let it get all rotted in the shed. LOL. If we had recycling here I'd probably recycle that stuff, I feel bad adding to all those landfills. If I had pets I'd probably shred the magazines and use them as kitty litter LOL.
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Juan Viejo2
A very high percentage of WT and Aw! magazines are never opened and read by anyone. Probably half of all print runs go straight into the recycling trash bins. Householders will often take the mags just to shut the JWs at their doors up - and then immediately toss them in the trash. Laundromats and company lunchrooms are regularly cleaned and the mags get dumped by the cleaning crews.
The study magazines are not distributed publicly, so my guess is that after the WT study is completed, a vast majority of those also go in the trash or are used to start BBQs or firelogs. Remember that most regular JWs will buy the bound volume at the end of the year, put it in their bookcase and never open them again. So there really is no reason to keep any old mags except to leave on doorsteps during field service so that the householders can throw them in the trash.
Part of the problem is that the current versions are so boring to read. Look at the pictures, read Questions from Readers, and then put them away. I've often said that the 4-page "Weekly Reader" that I used to get in elementary school was far more interesting and informative than any 32 page WT or Aw! - and they were for 4th-6th graders.
I'm guessing that more ex-JWs read the Watchtower more closely than active JWs, simply because we are reading it more critically, looking for the Governing Body and their non-Anointed writing department to f**k up and stick their brogans down their throats with some stupid comment (i.e., "mentally diseased apostates...") or contradictory statement.
Think of the forests that could be saved if the Watchtower would just shut down or go 100% electronic delivery. But then they could not brag about their high circulation numbers...
JV
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pontoon
I thought about this today as I was putting out my trash/recycling for pickup today. Every week I put some lit out, 20-30 mags, 5 or 6 books, I don't want to overwhelm the pick-up guys too much at once. I've been doing this for months.
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sd-7
Old, horrible memories...I can remember tossing some of my old magazines, like a trash bag full of them or something. I actually did try to read each one, though I didn't always succeed. But I felt kind of silly thinking that the ones I placed would actually be read by the householder. I mean, I usually didn't find them particularly enjoyable unless it was Bible-related, and even some of those were no fun.
I can only imagine. Think they use any recycled content when they make the literature? If not, that's an awful lot of waste.
--sd-7
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NewChapter
Geez, I had a fire and burned boxes of the crap. I still have boxes! It just accumulated for years. I remember around 2001 I decided to throw out any magazines printed before the 21st century. And they pop up everywhere! They slide behind things, between things, among things. I find them in the oddest places. In files intended for important papers, in boxes of craft supplies, mixed in with other mags.
I need to call an exterminator. I think they've nested.
NC
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NewChapter
Another thing. I thought about just putting them on the curb, BUT. . .
We have people that scrap, and if they were to find them all nice and clean, I really worried that they would read them or turn them over to a JW they knew. I remember several times (SEVERAL) when JW's would find perfectly good mags and books in the trash and take them back to the hall to be placed. Those things are poison and must be disposed of safely.
HOWEVER---I had another thought. I wanted to get a stamp made up with some websites: JWN, JWFACTS and Silent Lambs. The self inking kind--they aren't too expensive. Anyway I thought it would be cool to stamp them inside somewhere so that they COULD fall into someones hands and then they'd have access to the real truth. I haven't done it yet, but wouldn't it be fun to do a pile and slip them onto the book counter?
NC