composting paper ?

I've seen it written that you can put paper into bins, like newspaper shredded
and i've also seen "crumpled" paper because since it's "balled" up, it would add more air.

what about old phone books?

we got new ones delivered, and i normally recycle the old ones.

if i just used the non-colored paper (some pages are yellow or green)

any thoughts ?

TIA,

Terese

I have taken frustrations out on ripping up old phonebooks, and tearing them into schreads and letting them fall into the compost,white,green, and yellow, and all my worms seem "normal", I don't use the cover, but don't know why, maybe the sheene.Mike

Mike, you're right not to use the cover----the shiny papers have clay in them, so they don't break down as easily, and they use different inks. MY worms don't like them, and also I've read that the inks can be toxic. I'm told most of the newspaper-type papers use soy-based inks. I've used layered phone book pages for areas where I need mulch, just as I use newspaper, brown-paper bags and (for those tough areas) cardboard boxes.

does anyone know if phone books are soy based inks?

I've put unshredded phone books into my compost pile.
I wanted to start a pool on the date that they fully compost, but I had no takers.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/joepyeweed/Picture086.jpg

joepye... i'm actually going to shred mine in our shredder. (some time today) then run it all out to my bin with the collected coffee grounds and egg shells.

post back how long that takes to fully compost those whole books.

I work in the printing industry, I do not worry so much about the inks as much as the "finishes". Glossy paper has a "finish" to it with or WITHOUT ink.

Phone book covers are generally printed on C1S (coated 1 side) - this means the paper has a "finish" on one side (the outside) - then typically they will seal that same side with a varnish, UV coating or an aqueous coating (3 different "finishes") so the outside of the book has 2 finishes (the one that came with the paper - before it was even printed on, then has a layer of ink which is then sealed with one of the 3 previously mentioned finishes). UV is almost like laminated, aqueous is a tad shiny and has slippery feel, varnish can be Glossy, Dull & Semi-gloss just like the wood type finishes come in different lusters.

If you are unsure think of it this way - Paper comes from trees, wood comes from trees, can you tell the difference between unvarnished wood and a highly varnished or UV protected peice of wood - of course you can - but can you tell if its latex vs. oil based paint? I can not tell you if its soy based ink or not, just like I can not tell you if its latex or oil based paint but I do know if its been "finished". So I compost only "unfinished" offset paper with only black ink (not with a TON of ink coverage).

Just my thoughts
Nadine

Nadine: Thanks for posting those details!

Yes -- Thanks Nadine. Very interesting.

I peeled off the covers, and shredded about 1/3 of the book, til i jammed my shredder.
then i took about 20 more pages and crumpled them into balls and tossed it all in my composter and gave it a good few rolls... guess it's all thawed out.

Terese

One reason I didn't shred them because they are so large, I thought it might take a toll on my little shredder.

The phone books in my pile are now buried under other stuff. Now that we have more light in the evening and the temperature is warming,(supposed to get into the seventies here today); I am planning to mix up the pile a bit after work tonight. I tossed those books in there at the beginning of December. Hopefully I will have an update on their progress. Because the pile has been primarily frozen since those books were placed in their, I don't expect much difference.