Topic: Is it OK to put newspaper in the compost heap?

[cestrian]

I've been putting newspaper in the compost heap for ages and my wife has just told me that I shouldn't be adding it because of the chemicals in the ink!!!

Is there really that much that it will make us ill if we use the compost for veggies?

[louise stella]

I use it shredded along with my household bills shredded!  At least that way I know noone can stick them together to get my details!

[cornykev]

I rip mine into shreds and mix it in all the time.   ;D

[Linnea]

I put mine in scrumched up into balls if I have a lot of green materials. seems to help the air in the heep

[cestrian]

Good I'll carry on then.

[tomatoada]

I do the same as above and put complete papers on top of my compost heap to seal it before putting black plastic on top.  So that's quite a few of us still alive.

[manicscousers]

We sometimes mulch our spuds up with sheets of newspaper covered with grass clippings, a la Bob Flowerdew. Never had a problem  :)

[Chrispy]

The inks are soya based, no nasty chemicals.

[Andy H]

Yep all safe now, I get a lot of grass so do layers of grass, newspaper, cardboard,wood shavings.
I get bags of grass and loads of wood shavings from wood turning practice.

It all adds to topping up the beds on a permanent basis.

[Robert_Brenchley]

They stopped putting nasties in ink years ago.

[GRACELAND]

in short  yes  ;)

[Vinlander]

Even the coloured inks are safe now - they don't use metals to get the colour like they used to (burning colour magazines used to look like all the 'flame tests' at once).

Modern inks are complex organic molecules and the general rule with organics is that colour means reactivity - so they break down fast in the soil or compost bin.

Even colour magazines aren't that bad - it's just that the huge amounts of clay in them mean they rot very slowly - though even this problem is an opportunity - when they have been wet for weeks they become like artificial slates - quite good for covering gaps in your raised beds - you can even make beds with them if you don't mind the sides being 45 degrees rather than vertical.

Cheers.

[artichoke]

I line my under sink compost pan with newspaper, for kitchen green waste, then tip it into a compost bin. I believe the newspaper helps it to rot down. Slugs love it.