In my copy room at work we have a paper shredder aptly named "Big Bertha" which eats paper for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Big Bertha generates loads of paper shreds which are taken in for recycling. I can't stop wondering if I could take all these paper scraps and throw them either in my garden box or composting bin at home.
Paper can be composted, according to various sources on the web. My biggest concern would be the leaching of ink into the vegetables grown with the paper created compost.
- Catherine Mezensky of Suite101 says most black and white newspapers are fine to compost and "papers printed from home computers are safe to use as well."
- A few commenters on Skippy's Vegetable Garden said that they've had success using shredded paper as compost or for hilling potatoes.
- The consensus on Garden Web seems to be that most papers, that are not shinny or glossy, are probably ok in the compost bin.
So what's your take? Any experience using shredded paper in the garden or have a reliable source on the types of recycled paper that would be OK using in the garden?
(Images: All photos used with permission by Skippy's Vegetable Garden)
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I'd be concerned about the types of inks, but also about what sort of bleaching process your office copier paper went through.
I think shredded paper would be great in the garden- especially if you have some hard working worms (like the red wigglers) in your compost pile!
Some plants are good at leaching out toxins from the soil. Many weed/local plants that thrive in newly disturbed soil are great at absorbing toxins and would be great to put into the garden as a companion plant in areas you might be worried about the processing residues and inks on the paper.
Goosefoot/Lamb's Quarters is a plant that serves this function and is edible. I'm sure there are more if you look.
Using paper would be fine, only try not to overload it-I think you need a balance between the wet and the dry stuff in a compost heap for it to breakdown in the best manner.
I don't know much about the ink issue, but I imagine that in an office the shredded material is mostly plain black-and-white microsoft word products? And black ink tends to be vegetable-based these days doesn't it? I can't imagine it being too much of a problem.
I put shredded paper in my compost pile all the time, and I do use the compost for growing vegetables. I don't have a yard (just a sidewalk), so I don't collect a lot of dry materials like leaves for my compost. The paper helps keep the compost from becoming overly moist.