Shredded paper in compost

[Chantal]

Can I use the shredded paper from my office in my compost and if so in what quantity?

[ken]

Hi Chantal. The answer, broadly, is yes. I raised a question last year about making compost primarily from shredded newspaper and surplus grass cuttings. I think it was Allan who said that cardboard would work better because it would be squashed less easily and therefore would help air flow. However, I think it has worked OK for me: it was rotting down well when I last turned it. Will know finally when I burrow into last year's compost in the spring. Quantities are a bit by trial and error. I know there are formulae for saying how much carbon and how much nitrogen you want, but this is a bit academic faced with a sack of shredded paper and a barrow load of grass. Also, I tried shredded up documents (bank statements and the like) and found that these had more 'body'than newsprint, which presumably was a good thing.

[peter]

The paper itself is probably fine, but the inks or toner (laser & photocopier) on it and the dyes used to colour or bleach the paper may be toxic.

Not sure how persistent these would be in the environment or whether they would act as cummulative poisons (like arsenic).

HDRA website http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organic ... post_1.php
advises what to include or exclude from compost and specifically excludes newspaper & glossy magazines.

Personally I would not use it.

[Deb P]

I have problems getting enough paper to mix with my compost, and have been using my works discarded shredded paper as a compost component for about 3 years. It mades a great addition mixed with my 'green' waste, which I always seem to have plenty of. It seems to rot down very quickly too, resulting compost has no trace of the paper shreds. I don't know about the possibility of toxic inks, most shreddings seem to have very little print on them,but have been using and growing in the resulting compost with no problems that I'm aware of!

[Beccy]

We use it in our dog sh*t compost to add bulk and air. Along with added p*ss it works very well, we get beautiful crumbly compost. We don't use it on any crops that touch the ground, but figure it's fine for soft and tree fruit, ornamentals etc.

I know you are advised against this, but the reason for this is to stop the spread of disease, particularly worms. Our dogs are wormed regularly and as they 'go' on the garden anyway, any problem is there already As we keep them worm free and don't use the product on ground grown crops we think we are safe enough. Mind you we don't have chidren, I might feel diferently if there were toddlers around.

And of course it is extremely off-putting for anyone trying to retrieve our names and address for identity theft.

[The Grock in the Frock]

yes beccey,ive been doing this for years and have had no problems .i even add the paper too my leafmold bin and this works fine.the amount of shredded waste in my work is appaling,i come home with bin bags off the stuff,also plastic cups from the water machine,great for sowing in,and the amount off pepsi 2 ltr bottles they go through,ends up as mini greenhouses over my lettuce,bottles for the old mans home brew larger and i even take them down to my scout group,and they've made bird feeders.the used stamps i make them save and send these off to save the peat bogs

[Chantal]

OK Grock, you've got me there. I understand everything except the stamps. How in the name of all that's holy do used stamps save peat bogs?

Chantal

[pigletwillie]

dont be so silly Chanters,

you use the stamps to post bits of peat bog to Monty Don to store behing his compost heap in order to save the world.

Seriously though, how toxic can the ink be on paper. Most of the personal paperwork I shred either goes in the compost bin or is used to light our log fire. I presume that most of it is via lazerjet printer but I now wonder what the toner is made of.

[Sue]

Okaaayyy - So long as that's cleared up then...............

It's a bit mad here but I like it

Sue

[Sue]

I read somewhere that a lot of inks now are based on soy so if it's just black print and no colours, that should be OK.

Sue

[Chantal]

May be I've misunderstood and it's to save Peat's Bog?

I too burn all my personal paperwork as I have open fires but I have a huge amount of other people's personal details that I have to dispose of at work. It's all b&w off a laser printer so there can't be that many chemicals can there?

[Sylvia]

Hi Chantal, I shred all the rubbish that comes through the door and it all composts down EXCEPT the windows in the envelopes which most definately do not. Then it lies on the soil until there is a drop of rain then it looks all bright and shiney in amongst the veg--charming! The damn stuff wouldn't dig either, or at least not for long. Took me ages to clear it all up. I just tear out the window as I'm shredding now.

[Chantal]

Thanks everyone, I shall start composting it and see how I get on with quantities. As I'm not shredding colour or envelopes from what you've all said I should be fine.

Thanks again

Chantal

[lizzie]

You can send used postage stamps to a charity to help save the peat bogs. They then send these stamps to another company where they are recycled and the charity gets an amount of cash for every so much collected.

Groovy or what

[lizzie]

It is mad in here but don't worry about it. Join in, feel free after all maybe you're not mad. Maybe it's them?