12 Environmental Magazines That Pay Writers

When you think of environmental essays, you probably think of intimidating places like National Geographic, Smithsonian, Orion, and other big name science magazines, but the environmental sector is more than scientific articles or heavy journalism. Whether you write about your hometown, healthy recipes, travel, or activities for kids, consider putting an environmental slant on your essay and send it to one of the following paying magazines. As of the publication date of this article, all listed publications offer PAID writing opportunities!

Mother Earth Living

With the tagline “Natural Home, Healthy Life,” this website focuses on green lifestyles. Topics include gardening, health and wellness, food, and home life.

Verge Magazine

Focusing on socially-aware travel, this magazine addresses young readers volunteering, working, or studying abroad. Verge Magazine also explores local cultures and the issues that face the places we travel.

WaveLength Magazine

On the surface, this UK-based magazine is about surfing and surfers, but it also explores sustainability, the current state of the ocean, and stories about reconnecting with the power and beauty of nature.

Wildlife in North Carolina

Most regions of America have a magazine or two covering general topics in the area that may want your environmental articles, but North Carolina’s Wildlife Resources Commission puts out a magazine solely about wildlife, conservation, and environmental issues in the state. Freelancers write more than half of their articles.

Turkey Country

While a magazine for hunters may seem out of place on this list, hunters are often passionate conservationists. This magazine has sections for conservation program information, conservation issues around the nation, outdoor family activities, and turkey hunting. The National Wild Turkey Federation’s other magazine JAKES Country also looks for conservation projects teens can do in their areas.

This Magazine

A Canadian-based magazine, This Magazine “offers background and context to ongoing Canadian issues, a challenge to the mainstream media perspective or an important story that hasn’t been told elsewhere.” Feature articles are journalistic, but other sections ask for profiles of people or organizations and DIYs as well as underreported news stories and political news “decoded.”

Modern Farmer

This magazine isn’t just aimed at the people who produce our food but also the people who use and consume it. They seek “dynamic, global, surprising journalism about the people, policy, plants, animals and technology of agriculture.” How-to’s are also welcome.

Earth Island Magazine

Earth Island is a quarterly magazine that features investigative reporting and essays on current and future environmental issues. They seek stories about national or international issues for the magazine and their website, but “on-the-ground reports from outside North America are especially welcomed.”

Pacific Standard

This magazine focuses on “how people, governments, corporations, institutions, and cultural groupthink perpetuate questionable private behavior and bad public policy.” Most of their articles are journalistic, but they also accept pop culture analyses, profiles, and “field notes” from interesting and exciting places.

Entilligent

This website’s mission is “unearthing cutting-edge research and creating commentary on the intersection of energy, business, and the environment.” Business or financial writers might find this site more useful than other writers.

The Future Fire

The Future Fire is an online magazine specializing in inclusive, socially-aware speculative fiction and poetry with particular interest in “feminist, queer, postcolonial and ecological themes.” Environmental fiction is a growing genre, but few places pay for it at the moment. This magazine pays. No non-fiction accepted.

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