composting waste office paper and cereal boxes?
- Thread starter Ariel72
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vfem
Garden Addicted
I believe you are not supposed to compost the shiny print stuff, or colored ink things. BUT if you read the boxes, and know your printer... some use 'soy' based inks now, and I believe those are ok in the compost.
But how you would know for sure, I am unsure.
(I know I get bills and sales stuff in the mail with 'printed with soy bases inks" printed on the envelopes... so I don't see why those would be bad to put in the compost."
But how you would know for sure, I am unsure.
(I know I get bills and sales stuff in the mail with 'printed with soy bases inks" printed on the envelopes... so I don't see why those would be bad to put in the compost."
A lot of the older office based copier and printer ink/toner is "toxic". The only way to know for sure is to look at the actual cartridge/toner itself and see what it says it is made from. Some of the newer products are more environmentally friendly. 
wifezilla
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The new inks and toners are safe. It was the old stuff used about 10 years ago that was petroleum based. I have used shredded papers from work as bedding. Worked fine.
As for paper, the shiny stuff usually has some type of clay in the coating. It does break down slower. I avoid it.
As for paper, the shiny stuff usually has some type of clay in the coating. It does break down slower. I avoid it.
HunkieDorie23
Deeply Rooted
I used old church bulletins around the base of my tomatoes last year to keep the weeds down. I ended up taking them up about 6 weeks after I planted them so I could put some powdered milk around the base. Big mistake because I had weeds out the wazoo after that. I am add calcuim at the time of planting this year and the bulletins are staying.
AmyRey
Garden Ornament
I am mulching my crops this year with shredded office paper (which I can get loads of).
It is SO easy to put down and once it gets wet, it forms this mat-like consistency. I see it being a VERY good weed-preventer. I have no weeds yet in my broccoli bed, but the pine straw mulch surrounding it has already been infiltrated by some sort of native grass. Ugh!
I have used sheets of newspaper before with straw on top (for weight) and that worked beautifully also.
Surprisingly, the shredded paper doesn't blow around NEARLY as badly as the sheets of newspaper did.
It is SO easy to put down and once it gets wet, it forms this mat-like consistency. I see it being a VERY good weed-preventer. I have no weeds yet in my broccoli bed, but the pine straw mulch surrounding it has already been infiltrated by some sort of native grass. Ugh!
I have used sheets of newspaper before with straw on top (for weight) and that worked beautifully also.
Surprisingly, the shredded paper doesn't blow around NEARLY as badly as the sheets of newspaper did.
hoodat
Garden Addicted
I'd also go for the mulching rather than composting. They will take forever to break down in a compost pile.
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I will use it for mulch, but for an experiment I put down a layer of it in the chicken coop to see if the chooks can help me break it down for faster composting. It gives them something to do while they're stuck inside because of the snow. All that shredded white paper actually looked great in there.hoodat said:
April Manier
Deeply Rooted
Years ago neighbors turned me on to worm castings. They used their stuff from the shredder with their compost from the kitchen for the worm bin. Get some red wiggler action in there. They break it down in no time. Of course too much wold take forever, but it was quite successful in smaller amounts. the worms loved it and the tiny shredded pieces really worked! Let us know about the mulching.
