15 Places Where to Get Free Newspapers (for Packing, Cleaning Windows, Reading…)

How to Get Free Newspapers in Bulk

Here are some easy ways to get newspapers at no cost…

1. Local newspaper office

Local newspaper offices are a great source for old papers. Some of these offices have extra copies that are unsold newspapers from newspaper stands, some of these papers are misprinted for example.

Or they might have copies or rolls that they have nothing scheduled to be printed or published on. Get in touch with your local newspaper office to ask if you can have any of these newspaper copies or rolls of unused newspaper. This is a great way to get free local newspapers near you.

I recently went into the newspaper office of my hometown, and was given an unprinted end-roll for free! We’ve used it to wrap at least 50 boxes of items, and still have plenty left over.  (And it was a great bonus that it was unprinted, no black marks staining our hands!)

2. Ask at local nursing homes and assisted living facilities

Nursing homes can be a goldmine for free old newspapers. Just ask at your local nursing home or assisted living facility to see if you could pick up their old papers for free each week.

3. Check on Craigslist

You can get pretty much anything for free from CL, from free wallpaper to free stamps. On your city’s CL page, go to the “For Sale” section and under that heading, click on the “Free” section. Once you’re directed to the free section, simply enter the word “newspaper” into the search bar. Then, you should be able to see if anyone’s giving away free newspapers near you.

4. Ask at your local library

Many local libraries subscribe to newspapers from all around the world, meaning that they have a lot of them! Their members can read them for free. Once these papers are done with, they usually go into the recycling. So, ask your local library to see whether you could have any of their old papers for free. You may even be able to get free magazines as well.

5. Local colleges and schools

Schools and colleges often provide newspapers to their students in the library or classroom. You may be able to collect some expired newspapers once the school or college is done with them. You could offer a newspaper collection service at your nearby college.

6. Ask at airports

Airports often have newspapers and magazines just lying around for the taking. Usually, this is a free local paper that the airline offers. You could also contact convenience stores within the airport terminals to see if they are willing to give you the old papers that they don’t sell.

7. Contact local hotels

Many hotels offer their guests a complimentary newspaper service. In some hotels you can even get free newspapers delivered to your room. So, when their guests check out, or when the room gets turned over, they collect all of those newspapers. Call a few larger hotels in your area to see if they would allow you to collect these old newspapers.

8. Search on OfferUp

OfferUp is a website where people can buy and sell stuff locally. It also has a section for free stuff though. Now, you can browse the free section for newspapers. I’ve linked to the free section on OfferUp below.

But, everything is lumped in together. So, it’s best to go to the site and enter the term “newspaper” into the search bar.

Then, you can filter the results by “Price: Low to High.”

This will show you if anyone’s giving way free newspapers near you. I’ve seen lots of people giving away free papers on OfferUp.

9. Ask at coffee shops

I’m sure you have lots of coffee shops near you. Why not contact them to ask about collecting their old papers? It’s a great way to get complimentary newspapers.

10. Ask at gas stations

Since gas stations sell papers, they’ll likely have ones leftover that don’t sell, and they’ll have to recycle these old papers. Get in touch with local gas stations and offer to collect their used papers.

11. Contact grocery stores

Again, they sell papers and will need to get rid of the ones that don’t sell. You could call your local grocery store to ask if you could collect their old papers for free.

12. Ask at drugstores

Many drugstores sell papers so ask if you could come and collect the papers that don’t sell.

13. Ask family and friends

If any of your family or friends read newspapers, then ask them if they will give you their old papers. This can be a good way to get free newspapers in bulk.

14. Recycling centers

Since paper recycling centers have tons of used newspapers from people, they can be the perfect place to get free newspapers in bulk.

So call some recycling centers in your area to see if they let you collect some newspapers for free.

Now, some of these recycling centers may not be willing to give you free papers and others may end up charging you a small fee, so you have to decide if it’s worth it or not.

Even if you don’t get the papers for free, recycling centers can still offer you a good way to get newspapers for free in bulk at a fraction of what you’d normally pay for them.

15. Post a classified ad

One good way to get newspapers at no cost is to post an ad on free classified sites like Craigslist. You can post a request for free newspapers. If someone gets in touch, you can then arrange how you’re going to pick up their free newspapers.

Here are a few sites you could post on:

• Craigslist
• ClassifiedAds.com
• AdPost

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

There are quite a few ways that you can get free newspapers. It may take a little effort on your part, but you can get plenty of newspapers at no cost whether you want them for a craft project, to read, or for packing boxes if you’re moving to a new house.

Do you have any tips on how and where to get newspapers for free? If so, share them with us in the comments section below.