Some high glossy mail and magazines have ink in them that contain ingredients you don’t want in your soil, such as metals. EVOLUTION TRASH BAGS VS. Fastest Way to Shred Paper without a Paper Shredder. My guess is a micro-cut shredder like the one we recommend makes the paper even less suitable for recycling. If it is too wet it becomes sludgy and won't break down. Shred cardboard into small pieces before adding it to the compost heap. I’m lucky that I have access to Benford-9000 mega-shredding machine that I am able to run corrugated cardboard through for my worms and compost bin…I don’t think it would be a … If you happen to be a carpenter with ready access to an unlimited source of sawdust or you live on a farm with piles of straw sitting around, you can stop reading here. However, cardboard breaks down well, and adds structure to any compost mix. This idea is pretty simple. For years we ripped up paper and thin cardboard by hand. When paper is placed in landfills, it produces methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas up to 34 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Slice the cardboard with a decent box cutter, as far as possible cutting along the lines of corrugation, not against them (By the way, I find cutting cardboard with scissors is highly frustrating). At certain times of the year you find yourself with a lot of wet, “green” compost material and very little dry “brown” matter such as dry leaves, branches, and twigs. You can use the paper for mulch or you can compost it! Cutting along the corrugated lines will make work easier. How To Shred Newspaper For Compost. On the recycling side of the argument, recycling paper definitely saves energy, saves water, and reduces greenhouse emissions. If possible give yourself some space. So should I add paper? A shredder results in cardboard pieces which are light and airy. Though shredded paper is a great go-to mulch, there are times where having full sheets of paper can be a better option. It’s also a convenient way to compost kitchen scraps. Wet compost: Compost needs to be moist but not wet. Good job Jeff Bezoz, more of that approach would be very much appreciated here at Recycled & Renewed! You can easily throw kitchen waste into a blender or food processor to shred, but yard waste such as small twigs, garden debris and fallen leaves need something bigger. How to Shred the Compost Materials If there is one secret to making fast compost, it is finely shredding the carbon rich ingredients such as fallen leaves, hay, straw, paper and cardboard. Lasagna gardening is a slow compost process that requires little effort. Based on our experience, I recommend shredding thinner cardboard to add to your compost pile and keep the thicker cardboard mostly to the recycling bin (I think occasional thick cardboard is fine, but boxes and boxes might be too much). I wanted to note that Amazon, probably not the most sustainable company in the world, did a good job with this shredder. In this state it takes a long time to decompose, so it sort of defeats the purpose. He uses his shredder for shredding basic Amazon boxes, so this isn’t the thick cardboard. It is actually constrained by the number of mills available to process the recycled material. However, your mail that is printed on regular office paper is fine for composting. Q. I'm a devoted fan of your show looking for composting advice. By now, our documents-to-be-shredded bag had overflowed into a documents-to-be-shredded box and was threatening to demand landmark status and its own place on the map. Also, try to remove plastic such as tape and package document envelopes before you shred cardboard. You can also buy shredding scissors for small amounts of paper. So, shred away! Shredding paper actually degrades its integrity, making it harder to recycle. I think not. Even though modern inks are often vegetable based and therefore fairly harmless, the inks used on colored or glossy card can potentially contaminate your compost as I’ve heard they contain heavy metals. But if you want to get the benefit of this abundant material for use in your compost, you need some kind of method for dealing with it. These pieces of cardboard are small enough to fit into the feed opening of the shredder. This unit came with almost zero plastic (the tape may have had minimal plastic in it) and was fully recyclable or compostable. Most recycling programs do not accept recycled paper. The reason you want to max out on the number of pages you can shred when you buy a shredder is the larger capacity shredders are good for composting cardboard. Flatten the cardboard on a large surface before cutting into strips with a box cutter. I have spent hours in my driveway with a razor knife, hacking a mountain of cardboard boxes into a mountain of cardboard chips. When shredding the cardboard, he experiences no … ---Anne in Doylestown, PAA. You will also learn the ideal ratio of Carbon to Nitrogen when composting and how that can be easily achieved using compressed wood pellets of finely shredded cardboard and other paper … It boosts the health and vitality of your plants, and will even improve the taste of your garden produce. The method is easy. I’m sure there are ways, but are they practical? How to Shred the Compost Materials. Paper is a valuable material for composting because it’s a great source of carbon.Shredded paper also helps soil to retain water and increases its volume. ​On a side note, cardboard is not a perfect material for composting. Otherwise, where the heck do you get 30 times more carbon sources for your compost? But you need to shred them first or you get an anaerobic compost pile once those big ole’ leaves get a little wet. Larger capacity shredders have larger “mouths” that can fit pieces of cardboard. A good example is this heavy-duty shredder on Amazon which can handle 20 sheets at a time and it will even deal with staples! Shredding increases the surface area that the compost microbes have to work on and provides a more even distribution of air and … So long as the cardboard is clean and the shredder is powerful enough, you can shred corrugated cardboard quickly. The method begins by laying down sheets of cardboard which then get composted into the underlying soil and vegetation. Ideally, you need to remove any plastic from cardboard packaging before putting it in a compost bin. The most important thing you need to do to compost a cardboard box is to break it down into small pieces. Oxygen is an important ingredient because the composting microbes need it to do their job. It was basically a cardboard box with two cardboard inserts, pictured below. (Here’s a demonstration ). Food waste on its own is too moist and can quickly become a smelly mess if there’s too much of it in the compost mix. While cardboard can serve as a type of food for the worms they can’t live exclusively on cardboard. Not a bad workout if you want to build hand strength and have nice muscular hands (I’m kidding, unless you are a hand model), but this is so much faster and easier. Shredding cardboard can be a very time consuming and manual process. In fact, it is not getting put on a pollution-spewing truck and driven dozens of miles, it isn’t getting dumped into a big pile and pushed around by large machines, driven up conveyor belts, sorted by large machines…I think you get the point. The soaked cardboard will become easier to break up. But, Debbie asks a common question - are these papers and the inks they are printed with safe? Wish I had one as I’ve just acquired about 20 2.5 dozon cardboard egg trays…with the egg shells still in them, LOL! Cover the cardboard with plenty of water. Recycling one ton of paper saves enough energy to power the average home for six months and 7,000 gallons of water (that would fill up my 50 gallon rain barrel every day for around five months!). Paper is super rich in carbon, weighing in at a 200 to 1 ratio of carbon to nitrogen. You will probably struggle if you have a low powered electric chipper. This question is less clear. And the key to that preparatory procedure is shredding everything that goes into a compost heap. It makes a good “brown material" when nothing else is available. The standard unglossy white paper is fine to compost. How To Make Compost From Kitchen Waste (The Easy Way), Compost Starters (This is what you Need to Know! After you’ve removed any plastic, lay your card on a large flat surface at a comfortable height for easy working (an old door on a pair of sawhorses for example). A: According to the editor of the Home and Garden section, the entire paper is printed using soy-based inks. You can use sheets of cardboard to cover the tops and sides of your compost heap and reduce moisture loss. Shredded Paper in the Compost I'm a big fan of using shredded paper in the compost. Another option are leaves in the fall. Whereas 60-70% of paper and cardboard gets recycled (a pretty high number relative to other materials), I know for a fact that 100% of the paper I put in my compost stays out of a landfill (more on the environmental pros and cons below). But how do you shred a bunch of dirty leaves? That is by WEIGHT! Also, it’s a bit awkward to add a giant cardboard box to a backyard compost pile. (The Truth About Smelly Compost). You can compost most types of shredded paper. Remove any plastic tape etc., then roll your card up into a big cardboard log. Wetting the card beforehand can also be a big help. Cardboard is very good for improving the structure of compost because it helps introduce air pockets. Do you have any thoughts on the environmental benefits of shredding junk mail to compost versus recycling it? Run the cardboard through a heavy-duty paper shredder. Snip into small pieces using strong scissors. Have you ever stumbled across the concept of lasagna gardening? If there is one secret to making fast compost, it is finely shredding the carbon rich ingredients such as fallen leaves, hay, straw, paper and cardboard. After watching this episode, you will learn the best way to use cardboard and other paper products to speed up your composting process. But in my experience card needs shredding. This is obviously an investment, but it has the advantage of dealing with all of your other yard debris. Keeping the pile sitting around seemed like almost more of a threat to our identity security than … ​Tip - If your compost is too dry, you need to reduce the amount of evaporation. Cover the cardboard and compost layers with your choice of organic mulch, such as shredded bark or wood chips, using just enough to conceal the cardboard or up to 3 inches of mulch. Begin by preparing any large format cardboard by hand. When shredded it breaks down more quickly and improves the density and structure of any compost. Plain paper – white or coloured; … I don’t have any evidence but I assume that has lowered the amount of paper actually getting recycled. layer of shredded corrugated cardboard with other high-carbon materials... Add a 4-inch (10 cm.) When it comes to paper that you are going to shred anyway – bank statements, credit card statements, anything with sensitive information – composting it is best. You all know that our site has a pet-peeve about unnecessary packaging waste, especially plastic waste. If anything, putting my amateur economist hat on, constraining the supply a bit would potentially mean the balance between demand and supply would get even further unbalanced. ​Continue to shred into smaller strips of about 1 inch, Here’s an example of a powerful and efficient chipper / shredder. Thank you! And as you probably know, good composting requires a balanced mix of both. This is great for composting and in particular for vermicomposting. Alternatively you can use a large tub to soak card for up to 2 weeks. Hilling Potatoes. It’s instant because you can process your card immediately without any pre-treatment. A well prepared work area will make the going easier. You basically have two choices for composting your mail. Passing newspaper through a standard paper shredder is ideal. Divide your cardboard into more manageable 8 inch (21cm) strips. The other, much more time-consuming option is ripping up the paper with your hands. Unfortunately, many people who give composting … Try to max out on the number of pages you can shred at once without breaking the bank (large capacity shredders are really expensive). Shredding the cardboard makes sure that there is sufficient structure in the pile for air to circulate properly. The most practical option is the constant stream of pointless mailings shoved into your mailbox, the piles of Amazon boxes clogging up your recycling bin, or that Sunday newspaper that you are too busy to read. Composting. Avoid glossy or colored card Larger capacity shredders have larger “mouths” that can fit pieces of cardboard. Composting is a great answer to the question of what to do with all that junk mail (make sure you stay away from glossy inks, see below). Shredding thick corrugated cardboard boxes continuously could wear your shredder out. Large pieces of cardboard won't break down quickly and will slow the composting process. So I decided to investigate the best way to shred cardboard, or whether there was an alternative to all that hard work. Cardboard is an excellent substitute for carbon rich, brown matter when you can’t find dry plant material. Do you know that the optimal ratio of “brown” (carbon rich) to “green” (nitrogen rich) materials for your compost bin is 30 to 1? Also, according to the Sustainable Packaging Coalition demand for recycled fiber is generally believed to exceed supply. It’s is relatively slow operation and will take at least 3 to 6 months. At Recycled & Renewed, we love recycling but we also love composting. Great trick! ), Does Compost Smell? With some basic knowledge you can produce rich, sweet compost for all your backyard plants. To sum up: What Cardboard & Paper You Can Use in Composting. We recommend buying a shredder. However, a word of warning. Compost is miraculous stuff. I'm concerned that the ink on printed paper contains chemicals, and I won't have a truly organic compost come next spring. Compost piles are teaming with fungal activity. Composting the paper avoids all that processing energy (of course it saves energy once it is recycled though). Look for only the right kind of chipper shredders that have exit screens with holes from 1/4” to 1”. This is fantastic especially if you have … I would think that would spur more investment in capacity to process paper for recycling as prices for this more and more scarce resource are driven up. SEVENTH GENERATION – COMPARING TWO RECYCLED PLASTIC TRASH BAGS, Copyright © 2021 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes, The Best B Corps That Actually Benefit Earth, Recycled Plastic Products for Kids and Families, THE COOLEST AND MOST INNOVATIVE ECO-FRIENDLY COMPANIES AT AMERICA RECYCLES 2019, 6 COMPANIES THAT USE RECYCLED MATERIALS TO MAKE NEW PRODUCTS, HOW TO SHRED NEWSPAPER, JUNK MAIL, CARDBOARD, AND MORE FOR COMPOSTING. Why waste paper … Based on my research it seems to be an open question, I could not find a scientifically backed-up article that actually compares the two. ), the recycling system has been flooded with recyclable material, including paper. In terms of the percent of paper that actually gets recycled is relatively high (when compared to other materials like plastic). You can even leave the plastic tape on your cardboard packaging and remove when everything has broken down. Cardboard packaging usually has plastic tape attached which is best removed before using in the garden. This is a tricky question but let’s get some of the less convoluted versions of this question out of the way. These are very useful for shredding leaves, branches, garden waste, horse and other manures, compost, dried casting clumps, fruits and vegetables, pumpkins, corrugated cardboard and paper (into a fluff), … But handling large amounts of packaging and boxes can be tricky. (Amazon link). The shredded paper has a high surface area making it easy break down as the composting microbes ​get to work. The bottom-line is diverting a portion of your recyclable paper to the compost will likely not impact the recycling industry. Alternatively, soaking the cardboard in water for a few days will make it much easier to tear or cut. Plastic is usually not biodegradable. Help! Based on my research, there are some precautions to take when composting your junk mail, cardboard, and other paper with printing on it. That means you have to balance all those heavy pails of vegetable scraps with 30 times more shredded paper, cardboard, sawdust, or something similar. People often forget that paper comes from a natural resource. Since the trade war with China and their refusal to take our trash (can you blame them? Shredding Cardboard for Compost General Shredding Tips. Now what about diverting recyclable paper from the recycling stream and into your compost? This blog is about sharing everything that I’ve learned in the hopes that it will help others discover the amazing rewards of composting... * My articles may contain the occasional affiliate link, which can help me earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. There is one thing you can be sure of when you shred your junk mail, cardboard, and newspaper and stick it in your compost – it is not going to a landfill. By doing this, you make it easier for the micro-organisms in the compost heap to break it down and hasten the decomposition. Whichever method you choose, your card is now ready to go on the compost pile! This is at no extra cost to you. And a good shredder makes very short work of your cardboard! All those bank statements, credit card statements, charity solicitations, etc., can be shredded and put in your compost. It’s also a quick and efficient way to deal with compost that is too wet or foul smelling (this can happen when the compost contains too much nitrogen rich greens). I usually have a disproportionate amount of green material for my compost, so I'd love to add this shredded paper to the pile. Newspapers are fine since they are now generally printed with soy-based inks. When you see the benefits you won’t be able to get enough of it! Composting, or mixing together various organic materials to hasten decomposition, works faster with smaller pieces of material. If your house is anything like ours, you have plenty of “greens” (food scraps and such) but less “browns” for your compost. However, as obvious from the percentage above, not all the paper you place in your recycling bin is recycled. Hi, I’m Anthony. RECOMMENDED SHREDDER: AMAZONBASICS 12 SHEET MICRO-CUT SHREDDER. There’s just one caveat to this method. Legal Information: Help Me Compost is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com. Personally, I prefer the electric shredder method, and this is why you begin with 8 inch wide pieces so that they feed into the mouth of the shredder. Dry leaves are far better than cardboard. A viewer suggested putting my cardboard into the shredder instead of doing it by hand. The problem is cutting/shredding the cardboard into a useable size for composting. Crosscut shredders, which makes little strips of paper, will get matted down when wet and cause problems in your compost pile. If it’s not shred, large sheets will stick together in a big damp mass. And big chunks of card can be difficult to turn. So how do you shred cardboard for compost? Two common types of compostable waste were identified: This method is well adapted to people who have small yards and who don’t have access to a steady supply of plant-based “browns”. How to Compost Cardboard Boxes Begin your compost pile with a 4-inch (10 cm.) Otherwise you get the dreaded stinky, slimy, disgusting compost. When grown in a barrel or grow bag, potatoes have to be hilled … Tearing or ripping them by hand will work, but may take longer to break down. When you’ve done this a few times you naturally start to wonder what’s the ideal solution. This site also participates in other affiliate programs and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. I suggest avoiding those and putting them in your recycling bin. Foliage is rich in nutrients, whereas processed card will add fewer benefits to the end result. Shredding cardboard composting forum cardboard n coffee vermicomposting co challenge shredded cardboard paper shredder to make compost cardboard n coffee vermicomposting. I think it's a great high carbon compost material and most city and town dwellers have lots of it handy. The same goes for … If the shredder isn’t an option, use scissors or your hands. But it isn’t like people aren’t putting enough paper in their recycling bins. Vermicomposters especially love paper because worms enthusiastically eat it and even take shelter in it, searching it out above other materials in the compost … Using Cardboard In Compost How To BoCardboard On Compost Bbc Gardeners World MagazineStart A New Compost Pile With Newspaper Cardboard YouWhy Worms Like Brown Cardboard Uncle Jim S Worm Farm Farm Focus Cardboard … A healthy compost thrives on a … High fiber composting is an idea that was developed in response to the kind of waste material people most often have access to. Feed this into the chipper and you have shredded card in a flash! You can even leave the plastic parts in place, since most of the time they become easier to remove after soaking. The reason you want to max out on the number of pages you can shred when you buy a shredder is the larger capacity shredders are good for composting cardboard. Cardboard has a high carbon to nitrogen ratio (lots of brown to green)… bedding that is too high in carbon will prevent the bin from composting. Shredded paper in the form of newsprint and bank/credit card statements can provide an excellent source of carbon, a required component of any composting system. I know shredding can be tedious. I’m fascinated by composting! Is the Paper and Cardboard Safe? Supercharge your backyard composting, relieve pressure on the recycling industry, eliminate stinky compost problems, and get some serious eco-friendly karma points by diverting some of your junk mail to compost. Many gardening websites recommend adding shredded paper to your compost pile. Soaking cardboard in water dotted with a tiny amount of washing up liquid will make the card easier to cut, tear or shred. According to the EPA, paper is the largest (in terms of weight but excluding steel) type of material being recycled in the US. You can also spread some soil or old compost over the card to help speed up the process (the soil contains some useful microbes to get the process started). Also, it has really supercharged the breakdown cycle of our compost pile. Depending on how much card you want to shred and the size of your packaging, you have a few different ways of achieving this. They will mat down your pile as if you threw a heavy wet blanket on that rocking microorganism party in your bin – don’t be a wet blanket and ruin the party. Mix that shredded cardboard with other bedding ingredients or mix into their kitchen scraps. First, he cuts up the cardboard into smaller pieces with a Works ZipSnip. Not add paper? And once it's been shredded it’s even more work to remove these offending items! For example, if you live in a rainy climate you can leave card outside to begin decomposition. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. When composting, shred newspaper as thin as possible to speed up decomposition. To speed up the decomposition process, you can shred compost. Sixty to seventy percent of paper entering the recycling stream is recycled. In addition, when your in an urban or city environment with less trees or leaves to use as a source of carbon, cardboard is probably going to be your ideal material. It will also help speed up the cardboard's decomposition process. This cardboard lasagna construction will get broken down by the fungus over a period of a few months. I sometimes find myself facing a huge heap of cardboard boxes that need cutting and shredding in preparation for the compost bin. If you soak cardboard it becomes easy to tear. Hey Mr. Green, I shred credit-card statements and other papers containing personal financial information. Hopefully the above has provided you with some tips on how to recycle your cardboard waste in your compost bin. Mixing equal parts of shredded paper and grass results in an easily composted blend. Composting paper or cardboard is best done by shredding it and then mixing it with leaves or grass clippings. Things to consider when choosing a shredder: The micro-cut shredder we recommend balances maxing out capacity (12 pages at a time) so you can shred cardboard but at a reasonable price. It is good to remove any plastic material, coated wax, and stickers that do usually come with cardboard before adding to your compost. I recommend you use a heavy-duty shredder for this (my standard shredder broke down when I tried it with card, but then again, it was only a cheap model). Never shred card with tape attached – thousands of non-degrading bits in the soil that may be harmful to the ecology. layer of nitrogen rich materials on top of the cardboard such as fresh grass clippings, horse or... Add a 2-inch (5 cm.) Shredding increases the surface area that the compost microbes have to work on and provides a more even distribution of air and … So below I’ve tried to give you some ideas to make your life easier, and a few alternatives that you may want to try for yourself... Avoid glossy or colored cardboard. Am I wrong about negative impacts of diverting paper to the compost and away from recycling? Using a garden chipper / shredder is instant and effective. The shredder approach really keeps your compost pile more balanced. You can shred cardboard quickly by soaking it in water for days and then manually tear the cardboard into smaller pieces with your hands. In this video, I show you how to compost shredded paper to make rich, fertile, plant food and soil improver. This will be broken down in the same manner as any other garden waste, providing nutrition throughout your ecosystem. Based on my research, I’d suggest buying some oil (here is a link to the kind we bought from Amazon) and using it frequently for composting cardboard. But the heavy weight is cardboard, coming in at a hefty 560 to 1 ratio, a veritable George Foreman of the compost circuit (that’s boxing lingo, I think). Can You Compost Shredded Paper? Shredded cardboard is used as a “brown” substitute and provides the necessary structure to ensure good air circulation. Here’s an example of a powerful and efficient chipper / shredder that should make short work of any cardboard and big branches! ... You can also shred a cardboard box and use it as mulch. This is probably the quickest solution if you can’t be bothered to do all that cutting and preparation. When it softens you can easily shred the soaked card (to do this I've seen some people use a drill with a paint mixing attachment to shred the card). Cardboard is a very handy source of carbon. You need a micro-cut shredder. Some people say staples are a similar concern, although I tend not to worry - after all they add some iron to the mix! The newspaper can be food for the mind … Using shredded card in compost is a well known solution.
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