Can I compost newspapers?
Question:Everyone says I can- It does not seem like the right way. What do I do? Regards-Bob.
Answers:
you really can but, it is a lot of work "unless you have a paper shredder"
i only add newspaper if my compost is really wet and it needs "browns"
consider recycling instead if you have a lot
newspaper needs to be cot into very fine strips to break down
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yes newspaper may be composted
Yes you can, but be wary what kind of dyes the newspaper is printed with (call your local papers to find out). Don't ever use colored pages...there is something in the ink that is bad for soil and plants..even composted). Best way to compost is to shred or tear papers up so they don't compact and not let water get into the rest of your compost pile.
some newspapers or even simple papers contain non-biodegradable elements. some newspapers cant be composted. the best thing you can do with your odl newspapers is to recycle them. sell them in junk shops or companies that uses recycled papers for their products.
if you're creative enough you can turn them into useful handicrafts
Yes you can.Works better if you run them through a shredder first and mix with other compostibles,like kitchen and garden waste.
Still. I feel it's better to recycle them as paper through a recycling facility.
In the "old" days yes you could...but now?...Saddly no...with the advent of the colored page...composting newsprint is now a thing of the past...
I don't think so. I am pretty sure not. They are recycled, and they chop them down and throw them back into the pulp mix to make more paper.
As for composting, worms don't like the bleach and the chemicals of the inks that are in the paper.so how does it break down? It doesn't. I just found a newspaper in the hedge that has been in there 12 years - I can still read it. You think it should have rotted away in that time.
yes. It'll work better if you break 'em up somehow . You can run over them with a lawnmower. Just keep going in a circle, or back & forth , alternating direction .
Don't worry about colored ink . Stopped being a problem about 10 yrs ago. Use vegetable dyes, at least in part.
You can, but the paper has to be very small. Best way would be to use a Shredder. Paper doesn't break down as easily as other compost materials. You do need to be careful with some paper. Newsprint contains arsenic, so might not be any good. Me personally tried it,but gave that idea away. Good Luck!
In the US, publishers are using soy based inks and the colored pigments that were a problem in the past have been changed to remove the objectionable elements. What you need to stay away from are the glossy papers that are used for advertisements and inserts. These papers have a high clay content and don't work very well. Using newspapers in a compost pile would be hard unless you took the time to shred them, otherwise, they will just clump together and take forever to break down.
Newspapers are better used as part of your mulching program where they are used in relatively thin layers and can break down over the course of a growing season.
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Good Luck and Happy Gardening from Cathy and Neal!
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