Topic: Uses for shredded paper

[davee52uk]

For some time I have been shredding all the waste paper, junk mail and thin card with a home document shredder. This fills a carrier bag everyday!! I have been adding this to the compost heap for the last year and it seems to work O.K

I have wondered if there are any other and better uses for this stuff. I have thought of using it at the bottom of seed trays and pots to extend potting compost and also to work as a water store. Any ideas out there?

[manicscousers]

dig a channel and line the bottom with it and add veggie peelings, cover with the soil...hey presto..bean bed  ;D

[pg]

I use shredded paper under grass clippings/pulled up weeds to help 'earth-up' around potatoes. Useful when space between potatoes is limited or you don't have much top soil to pull up for traditional earthing up.

[manicscousers]

yep but we use newspaper..best use for it, really  ;D

[steveuk]

dig a channel and line the bottom with it and add veggie peelings, cover with the soil...hey presto..bean bed  ;D

Agree here, tried it last year had bumper crop.

[Lauren S]

I have been shredding paper all winter and bagging it up for the lottie. I will be using it in the bottom of my potato trenches, to keep their little bottoms from rotting  ::)

[RobinOfTheHood]

Mulch.

But then again I get loads of the stuff.

[greenscrump]

Like Lauren we use it for potato trenches and also for earthing up - used it for mulch on onions last year and ended up with white rot  ::)

[kt.]

As a child I remember we couldn't afford toilet rolls so we used newspaper to wipe our ass. Today I use shredded newspaper in the bottom of the potato trench before adding manure, then the potato, finally covering up.

I guess the moral of the story is that shredded newspaper is useful for anything to do with crap ;D

[Clairylou]

I bring bin bags full of shredded paper home from work and use it as a mulch around fruit bushes,  also layer thickly as a weed suppressant when i am not using beds then just turn it in when bed is needed works really well.  Also used it in the bottom of my bean trench.  I find it really useful but i suppose it depends how much you have available to you.

Claire :) 

[froglets]

A layer of insulation on the top of my wormery in winter & a dry layer to soak up the moisture in it if it's getting too wet.  Ditto into the Dalek.

Don't reccomment using it to start the fire with - WOOSH!!!!! check eyebrows, look sheepish & remember some basics of chemical reactions. :-\

[Emagggie]

I've been taking ours to the layers of the free range eggs to sit on  :-\
With all these suggestions (like the idea of making pots) they may well have to sit on something else. ;D

[davee52uk]

Thank you for loads of interesting ideas. If I can just pose a supplementary; I would really like to use the shredded paper as a mulch but worry that it would all get blown away - how do you keep the stuff in place?

[Lauren S]

1. Push small balls of crumpled newspaper into a stale smelling Thermos flask and replace the stopper. Leave overnight, remove the paper and rinse in warm soapy water. It will smell fresh again. The newspaper absorbs the smell. This works on plastic boxes too.
2. To ripen green tomatoes wrap them in newspaper to keep them warm and they will ripen in a couple of days. (If you leave them on a window sill and there's not much sun or heat, they will not ripen.)
3. Crumpled newspaper makes very good packing material for fragile and delicate items. Use a lot of layers, each one crumpled up, to give protection.
4.  Also good for insulation and protecting frozen food.
5. Screw up some newspaper and moisten it very slightly. Apply a drop of dish washing detergent and use to clean and polish glass. It will gleam.
6. If shoes get wet, stuff them with newspaper and place in a warm cupboard. They will dry quickly and keep their shape. Use this method for leather handbags and gloves too.
7. During winter and very wet weather leave a stack of newspapers by the door. They will absorb water and wet mud and protect your floor from wet boots.. It's much easier to clean up too.
8. Line the bottom of your refrigerator drawer with newspaper. It absorbs water and smells.
9. If you have a garden compost bin, newspapers make good "dry" compost. Just tear them up and add to your bin.
10. Use shredded newspaper to improve sticky, wet soil in your garden. Just dig it in (mulch) and let it do it's job.
11. Newspaper make a useful alternative for pet bedding. They absorb moisture, and provide insulation. This is a great idea for small animals in cages and runs.
12. Tie newspaper in a knot and use in the fireplace. Or you can make fire logs out of old newspapers. Roll sheets of newspapers up tightly in the shape of a log and use them in your fireplace.

[Emagggie]

Thank you for loads of interesting ideas. If I can just pose a supplementary; I would really like to use the shredded paper as a mulch but worry that it would all get blown away - how do you keep the stuff in place?

Wet it dear Davee,dear Davee ,dear Davee, just wet it dear Davee, dear Davee ....WET IT. ;D

[Lauren S]

Maggie you looney tuney, you had me singing along then
;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

[cefer]

Hi All,

Is it ok to use shredded newspaper for chooks in thier laying boxes?

Thanks
Gill

[kt.]

Is it ok to use shredded newspaper for chooks in thier laying boxes?

I don't. Apparently straw is better, its all I use in my hen beds. More comfortable apparently.

[dtw]

Paper contains chalk, it may be too dry for their legs (hock burns perhaps?)