I’ve got three large bags of shredded paper sitting here, waiting to be dropped off at the nearest Abitibi Paper Retriever dumpster. Since that dumpster is located on the far side of the campus that holds our high school, middle school and upper elementary school–and I try to pick up my middle school-aged daughters up on foot–I usually only get the chance to make the shredded paper dumpster run occasionally in the car. (I don’t mind making the walk to the dumpsters but having to lug the bags of shredded paper can be a drag–literally.) I’m all for bringing my recyclable paper to the dumpster, since it helps the school with its fundraising, but since I don’t anticipate driving over towards the school any time soon, I got to thinking about ways that I could reuse the shredded paper.
For starters I know that I can use it in my compost to cover up any dumped organic matter. As you probably well know, the key to composting is doing a green-brown layer–that is, organic matter (green) that is covered by leaves, grass clippings or, in this case, shredded paper (brown). Covering up the “green” with “brown” helps it to decompose faster.
Some gardeners swear by sprinkling shredded paper into already dug holes in which they are going to do some planting. I guess if the paper breaks down with organic matter in the compost, then logically it would offer the same benefit in your garden. Even better–take your rich, newly created soil from your compost, and use that, along with shredded paper, to fill in the holes when you garden. This way you never have to spend money on a bag of dirt!
When I was doing a lot of selling on eBay, I would take the cross-cut paper out of my shredder and use it as cushioning in the shipping boxes. I’ve done the same when putting away Christmas ornaments or other breakables I would normally wrap in bubble wrap. In fact, come Christmas time, I’ll shred wrapping paper that isn’t reusable along with the remnants of holiday cards, and use all of that in place of bubble wrap. I mean, why pay for bubble wrap when I’ve got free packing materials right here in my shredder?
Your kitty would approve (I hope) of this next suggestion: I’ve heard that you can use shredded paper as replacement litter if you find yourself in a litter-pan pinch. I guess it makes sense–the paper is absorbent, and it moves in a way that litter does, so your cat can cover up her business once she’s done. Only drawback? I doubt that paper is odor absorbent.
Speaking of animals you can also use shredded paper in a hamster or guinea pig’s cage, or your can donate it to your local animal shelter. I hadn’t thought of this, but I’m definitely going to call my local SPCA and see if they can use it–and then find out how they use it.
Another idea is to use shredded paper in place of that icky plastic grass in Easter baskets. Of course, it would be prettier if you happened to be shredding a bunch of colorful paper at the time, but I’m guessing that as long as there’s candy sitting on top of them thar shredded paper, the kids really aren’t going to care what color it is.
I’m no sewing queen, but I’ll bet that you could use shredded paper as stuffing in pillows and other decorating ideas. Some people use the shredded paper as stuffing in dog and cat beds. Hey, maybe I’ll take out the old sewing machine and give that a try.
Can you think of other ways to reuse shredded paper beyond just recycling it? If so, post a comment to share your idea.
7 Comments
October 13, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Adding it to your compost is probably OK if you do it in moderation.
In our house, it’s mostly old bills, envelopes and the junk that seems to come with everything these days. I’m also not too particular about what I shred and a lot of plastic from window envelopes goes in there.
A lot of the inserts are printed on glossy paper which has a high clay content that makes it shiny and this paper doesn’t compost particularly well.
Colored inks are not the problem they used to be because the pigments are more worker and environmentally friendly.
We do have a lot less to shred since we opted out of the credit card offers that we used to be inundated with.
October 13, 2008 at 3:27 pm
And I’m sure that the economy has helped to cut down on those credit-card offers, too!
Thanks for posting a comment.
Leah
October 13, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Some cats might use the shredded paper. We were trying to collect a urine sample from our cat and the vet suggested shredded paper because it isn’t good at absorbing liquids right away. The cat held out for her real litter. She wouldn’t step in the box. I’m guessing it might be something to do with the texture.
My parents trade off with friends having campfire or fireplace evenings. They use their shredded bills for tinder! They feel they can’t be too safe with their personal information.
October 14, 2008 at 7:24 am
Would white bleached paper hurt the soil or disrupt the PH?
I used the shredded paper for hamster cages and it worked really well.
As for Christmas cards, instead of shredding them, I sometimes use fancy scissor and cut out a section of the card that is pretty, hole punch it and use it as a present tag for the next year. Or if you want to save especially lovely ones, you can cut them to fit inside a multi-windowed frame and display.
Great blog!
December 2, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Do you really need to shred that much? Not only the shredded paper is not so good for recycling, it also uses up electricity.
It’s fun though, but consider this:
“Once paper is shredded, it is demoted to a low-grade class because the fibers have been cut so short. Shredded paper is recycled with paperboard because paperboard is also a low-grade material. Office paper, with its longer fibers, can be recycled many times before ending up in the low-grade market. Shredded paper is accepted with paperboard at drop-off centers only, not through any curbside program”
Read more here: http://www.ecocycle.org/askeco-cycle/frozenfoodbox.cfm
December 31, 2008 at 12:02 pm
[...] don’t have any kids in school that need to cover text books, I would re-recommend my idea of shredding wrapping paper, and using it as a packing material for putting away Christmas decorations. Since I’m selling [...]
October 3, 2009 at 11:21 pm
We still get a newspaper & we homeschool, so we have lots of paper to shred. We primarily use our shred for the chickens; it works great for their nesting boxes. When it is worn out, we add it to the compost pile.