Newpapers in the Garden

I am new to this forum. It is an amazing resource that I will consult frequently.

I have a question regarding using newspapers in the garden.

I realize you shouldn't use glossy, colored paper for any garden use but what about general newsprint? Is there anything toxic that I can transmit into my gardens if I use it? (i.e. ink, etc) What about color ink that appears on on regular newsprint? Is it safe to use that?

I generally recyle my papers but if they can provide a resource for my garden, I'd like to use it.

Thanks
BronxBoy

Pity no one has returned your call-
Newspaper is very useful!

First, It is a general rule (perhaps law) that Newspapers are printed with biodegradable ink as well as paper. (no kidding) After all, there are a quite a few of them blowing about aimlessly across this country, and they are one of the fastest things beyond E-bay and the Stock Market to go obsolete. I beleive that the newsprint is designed to break down faster with sun exposure.

As a compost (best if shredded) newsprint is high in carbon, a great foil to the pile with too much grass clipping.

General Interface: When laying down a new walkway, a person can use newspaper as a biodegradable weed-barrier. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but a dozen layers creates a nice interface, which does not break down readily, but by the time it does, most weeds have died out. (and any master gardener should tell you that plants don't like interface.) This methods really works under stone walkways. It is perfect to smoother annual weeds, groundcovers and grass under a new gravel or wood-chip path. It can smoother grass for a raised bed on top of it. Or, as an interface underneath of a compost pile that allows the 'tea' to drain into the soil, but slows down opportunistic tree roots that might otherwise lace the pile.

A person can fold up biodegradable pots with several layers of them, (a person has to try them to see pros, cons, and applications) as well as mulches and winter protection. It can be used like leaves, but note should be taken that it can blow away in a windy site, and It is my uneducated guess that the local homeowner's association will not have the words "Creative, thrifty, and recyclable" come to them upon first sight.

One can also make his own Seed-Tapes. (when he is bored out of his mind in the winter time, staring at a snow-covered vegetable garden out the back window and the new Burpee carrot seed in his hand)
To make these, one wets paper strips (it is suggested to use starches or meals as a fixative here) and studs it with seeds at desired intervals, covering with another layer of newsprint.


I'm sure there is more out there that I can't remember.
Kenton

Those brown paper grocery sacks can be used for all of the same type of applications as those listed above for newspapers.

BronxBoy - current non-glossy newsprint today is made from soy-based inks & are completely harmless for garden use. No worries.

I use "pads" of newspapers on my walkway between raised beds, and cover the newspapers w/ straw.

The claims about newpaper inks being universally soy-based, and therefore safe to use in the garden are often made and may be at least partly true, but there is little I've found to support the general claims of safety. In fact, all I've found so far is info that makes me question it.

From the Ohio Division of Recycling (admittedly 5 year old info):

"As of 2000, only 25 percent of the nation’s 50,000 commercial printers use soy ink. 90 percent of newspapers use soy ink for color printing, but not black because black soy ink is significantly more expensive."

From the International Paper website:

"While there have been many claims of the ecological benefits to be gained, ink made with soybean oil contain waxes, pigments, and other additives. This makes it no easier to dispose of a soy oil-based Ink than a petro-based ink, printed or non-printed. This requires that the same considerations be taken for disposal in a landfill or incineration as petro-based inks would need. While soy or vegetable containing inks may help reduce the measured VOC's (volatile organic compound content), the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has not exempted vegetable oils as a non-VOC. The EPA believes that while all vegetable oils are not VOC's, they are "precursors to precursors of ozone". When vegetable oils, including soy, dry by oxidation, there is evidence that minute amounts of VOC's are released, so says the Environmental Conservation Board. While the EPA and the ECB have made these statements, they do believe they (soy inks) are much more friendly to the air environment than petro-based oils. The same would hold true for any other vegetable oil based ink.

I'm still interested in seeing more current and factual information.

Wayne

Thank you Wayne. That has some good data (from Ohio Div. of Recycling). I don't think current and factual information will be easy to find.

I figure that the amount of undesirable chemicals that could come out of newspaper garden use is comparable to that of a person who eats too much preserved food sneezing on his pansies. I could be dead wrong, of course.
I love how the EPA works some days, with their novel alphabet soups and cross-definitions coupled with contradictoty policies. Perhaps they ought to look into the greater pollution of (organic) methane. Oh wait, they have. Heaven forbid that a cow farts. (No kidding- that was an expensive study, and the Australians, I think were doing something similar. A device was designed and manufactured to hook over a cow to measure its expulsion of airborne contaminents.)

Unfortuntatly, I beleive that the EPA itself never lets facts or the environment stand in the way of good old fashioned and fun politics. Which is a real pity for us Gardeners who just want to know about paper, eh?

If you are inclined to err on the side of caution, then take such things into consideration. Inversely, if you think life is too short to worry about the decomposition properties of ink; your beets will enjoy The New Yorker.

Kenton

Why not call the Newspapers in your area and ask them what type of ink they use. Then do an info search based on the types of ink used on the newspapers you will be using in your garden. Maybe the Newspapers will have info on the environmental impact of the ink they are using.

Ah, Kenton, too true. Sometimes I suspect strongly that the anxiety I harbor over things like this takes more years off my life than the physical toxins, when a good percentage of the world is worrying about what the next day will bring. Life *is* too short.

Now I'm going to go EAT my New Yorker.

Zeppy - what you say is too funny & too true.

Knock yourselves out guys - I'll still be using my newspapers as mulch, & doubt I'll die because of it - lol!!!

Well, what do you think about that, BronxBoy? As a result of Your question, folks will be saving their periodicals and grocery bags, calling their local papers and eating Magazines.

Another use: Animal bedding. That is, if newpapers can contain any more dung...

Kenton

i am also using all of the paper from my office shredder as mulch and then put pine bark over it to keep it from blowing away.

And can you guess what I just found on the bottom of a box of tea...

Hi all:

Thanks for all the great responses.. Sorry I haven't been more responsive. (That pesky thing called work)

OK I'll give it a shot. No glossy stuff but eveything else we'll put to use. We have a fairly decent shredder in the house so I'll shred before I use.

Hey if anyone's going to save the environment, it's going to be us gardeners

Here Here!

Hi BronxBoy. I'm a little late coming to this thread. I use loads of paper - newspaper, some glossies, junk mail - in various ways.
The newspapers don't get shredded for my garden. I use them in full sheets a number of layers thick, mostly for weed suppression. When I start a new bed, they go around the individual plants, I wet them, then pile shredded wood mulch on top to hold them down. For a new path, I put many layers under the landscape fabric (which has allowed weeds to come through without the paper.) Using the newspapers this way also helps with soil amendment. You'll find that the earthworms will come to the surface under wet newspaper and cardboard and start working it in.
Junk mail, of which there's plenty, is shredded and added to the compost pile. So is paperboard from food containers as well as thin cardboard, like cracker boxes. This is the only place I try not to put glossies since I'm planning to use it on food crops. But the glossies I use everywhere else for the ornamentals beds.
In addition to newspapers, corrugated cardboard is a great weed suppressant and grass killer. And stays in place easier than a bunch of papers being put down on a windy day! LOL

i second everything that mickgene said!

My Termite man has told me not to use wood mulch around the foundation of my house so Im in the market for some new mulch! Do layers of old News paper bring in termites or is it safe to use neer the foundation?
Thanks Caren

From what I understand, anything that retains moisture shouldn't be used right up against the house.

I've been told that virtually any mulch of your choosing can be safely used so long as it's kept at least 2 feet or so from your house foundation.

Breezy's right on the mark about the moisture retention. That's why, even dirt next to the house is a vector for termite infestation. I had termites in NY with nothing but lawn against the house. Given these facts, I'd say the key is in not piling whatever substance is next to the house up against the siding. But nothing is going to be a sure thing. There are ads on TV urging people to use rocks. That's an appropriate solution for fire danger but not termites, since the moisture retaining dirt will still be under those rocks.

Caren paper is a wood product. I haven't found much biodegradeable material that termites won't have for lunch.

Huffy1 They will munch on more than that. Have seen them found in the concrete blocks in the Army Personnel Center in St louis. They were coming thru cracks in the blocks and using the light sand and cement to build tunnels just like they do with paper products. I was in disbielf.

Apparently, they are attracted to cellulose. I would not be afraid to use paper in the garden for this reason, however. There is just too little matter to be of great use to them. I use cinderblocks or bricks to elevate my woodpiles, though!

JAMESCO did you se the post I made about a commercial compost tumbler. I found out I got one 50 miles from me and went and seen it the 21st. It is 50ft long and 10ft in dia. It holds 50 tons of turkey and chicken manure. The manure goes in one end and comes out the other end in 4 days finished compost. And it is heated. I do not know with what but it is kept inside at 145 degrees. makes one revolution every 14 mninutes. The post has their web site with pictures of the different sized composters they use and sell. They are a COOP the operation belongs to 12 families in the central missouri poultry growers assn. The compost name is earlybird compost. They just sent nine 18 wheelers to Okla full of compost for some giant nursury connected to wallMart stores. I am trying to buy a pickup full. Have not heard from them yet.

(Thanks for posting where I would see it.)

Sounds like a great feildtrip.

Do you know if it has worm-fins inside that push the compost through? I know that there are laws that require the heating process to sterilize the dung. (the thought is to kill pathogens via vectors like dung, avian flu, etc.) I actually remember the number 142 degrees as standard. Contained like that, (appears insulated as well.) it could create its own heat.

That site has a section that tells you where you can get as little as 1 cubic foot bags. Be sure to post when you acquire some and tells us what you think.

You know, Ozarkian, I think you’ve inspired me to call around to the COOPs west of here, as I have a pile that is too high in Carbon.
K. James

Hey, Let’s start a manure thread…

i thought most of these threads were manure threads! ROFLOL