Week 25 - Reusing newspaper
Newspaper is easy to recycle but as with all paper it cannot be recycled indefinitely as the quality reduces too much and there are also the energy costs involved in transporting the paper to be recycled and the process itself. Not long ago it would wrap your Friday night fish and chips but not any more so finding other uses for your daily read makes good environmental sense.
 |
| Image from Pixabay |
7 great ways to reuse newspaper
1. Craft with it
From Christmas cards to woven baskets and collage to papier machée there are just so many crafty ideas out there that give newspaper a new lease of life. I may have said it before but Pinterest is your friend here for a myriad of interesting ideas to suit crafters of all ages and abilities. If you have a newspaper craft pinterest board please do let me know and I'll link to it here.
2. Make plant pots
Newspaper makes great plant pots with the added advantage that the whole pot can be planted out and the newspaper helps retain moisture as it rots away. Plants that dislike having their roots disturbed such as sweet peas and sweetcorn benefit from being grown in a biodegradable newspaper plant pots and you can make them extra long to accommodate their deep roots. Have a look at this tutorial from Gardener's World - Making Newspaper Plant Pots
3. Clean glass with them
Use scrunched up newspaper, some white vinegar and a tiny bit of elbow grease to clean your windows and mirrors without any nasty chemicals.
4. Garden mulch
Some layers of newspaper around your plants will stop weeds growing and help retain moisture in dry spells. As the paper rots away you simply fork it in before adding more.
5. Gift wrap
Don't pay out on expensive gift wrap when newspaper will do just as well - add raffia and other natural materials for embellishments and keep your gift giving greener. In our house after a year when older son remarked that Father Christmas had the same wrapping paper as we did, thereafter he always wrapped his stocking presents in newspaper!
 |
| Image from Design Mom |
6. Compost it
If you are trying to compost a lot of wet material such as grqass cuttings you need to add some dry material to stop the whole compost heap turning into a slimy mess. Scrunched up newspaper is great for this and helps air get into the compost heap.
7. Shoe protection
If your shoes have got wet inside gently stuff scrunched up newspaper into them. Change the paper once it it wet and finally leave dry paper in to help retain the shape of our shoe
I am sure there are lots more ideas you can think of so please do drop me a comment. One final thought though, if you find you are disappearing under a mountain of newspapers you can ask to stop receiving free ones and read the ones you do enjoy, online.
No comments :
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.