Now this is what I'm talking about.
"Is it?" you're all asking. "I thought you were talking about your backyard. Is this guy writing about your backyard?"
Okay, no, not directly. But he is talking about some very simple ways that everyone can contribute to the beneficial, cyclical nature of ... nature.
It's my friend Emmett Duffy at thenaturalpatriot.org again, and by "friend" I mean "someone whose blog I've read but who doesn't know I exist." Oh, the slipperiness of language! Whatever his relationship to myself, however, Emmett and I both recently thinned out our files and fed the private logs of our lives into a paper shredder. Files downsized. Identities saved. And there was much rejoicing.
Back story! In ye olde days of yore when I worked a temp job at Johns Hopkins University, one of my tasks was to collect the sensitive documents that my higher-ups wanted to trash. I would then take the collected stack of papers downstairs and feed them through a gianormous (no, really, it was) paper shredder, feeling for all the world like Pam Beesley (albeit maybe not quite as beautiful, and tragically without my own Jim Halpert) and simultaneously wondering, "Where does all this shredded paper go?"
One day my question was answered when I saw bags of it heaped onto other bags of trash, all heading toward the same free-for-all dumpster outside.
Flashforward to last week when I cleaned out my filing box. I still haven't emptied the trash can attached to my shredder, because I'm not too sure where to put the confetti that was once my personal documents. I don't want to waste it the way they did at Hopkins, but if I do, I at least have the excuse (as they didn't) that my township doesn't encourage a division of garbage. We have a compost bin in the vegetable garden, but the last time we tried to put any kitchen goodies inside, we discovered the top had frozen shut. (Yesterday's high was 19°.)
But seeing Emmett's success with chilly backyard composting gives me just the incentive I need to hold onto the bin of confetti and wait for a thaw. After all, when bugs and worms have eaten the paper and turned it back into the dirt our plants just love, it will be impossible to trace it all back to me! And that's just the way nature intended.
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Great idea! Just make sure it's all nice clean paper, not junk mail or nasties with lead dye. It makes a wonderful mulch although you may be surprised at how so much fluff and personal history will quickly pack down. If you don't like the look of it, dump some hay, straw or wood chips on top! Good luck with your composting!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good reminder. A lot of places are starting to use soy-based ink, I believe, but a lot of places still aren't. If your paper isn't nature-friendly, and your township is as dark-ages as mine and doesn't have paper collection, the Powers That Be probably have a number you can call to find out where you can haul your extra paper. (To make the drive worth it, if it's far outside of town, collect paper from your neighbors, too!)
ReplyDeleteI recently wrote a blog entry on shredding and using it in the compost. I still researching the concept but have some questions. Whats the best kind of shredder to shred with? A crosscut paper shredder or a strip cut shredder?
ReplyDeleteYou can read my blog entry at: http://commercial-paper-shredder-info.com/2009/03/paper-shredding-and-green-gardening-practices/
It's so exciting to see other people pursuing this option for document disposal!
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether either kind of shredder would necessariliy be better for creating compostable paper chunks, but I believe a cross-cut shredder would probably produce the fastest-decomposing pieces, since they would be smaller. I really like my cross-cut shredder, and since the more chopped up the paper is, the less readable it is, it might be a better option for keeping info the most protected.
The decision should probably be made in light of what the gardener will be composting. If there will be a lot of "browns" (these are drier things like leaves, sticks, paper, cardboard, etc.), then the smaller the paper chunks, the better. But if most of the content will be "greens" (fruit peelings, teabags, etc.), then the larger the paper chunks, the better. For the most efficient and least smelly compost bins, a balance of browns and greens is best.