Weekly Waste War: Newspaper

Come on, you DO know that your never going to read that 1983 issue of the Wall Street Journal, the one that has a guy on the front that looks like you? I mean, yes, it's memorable, perhaps not as memorable as that potato chip that looked like Jesus (or was it a cheeto?), but still something you feel you should hang on to. And then the week after that was printed on the same day as your mother's birthday, and she demanded you keep that one. And then you kept the next one, and the next one, and the next one.....

If you haven't been swallowed up the cascading waves of newspapers, it's time to swallow your hoarder's pride and do something useful with all that paper.

• Simply recycle it: First things first, if your'e just looking to get rid of it, almost all curbside recycling programs support recycling newspapers. So haul it out there, and maybe you'll finally have room in your house for, lets say, a magazine rack. Perfect.
• Pet bedding/litter: Newspaper makes a great bedding or litterbox layering for your pet rabbit, guinea pig, mouse, and many other small animals. As long as your pet isn't chowing it down by the editorial, (it's okay for most small animals to ingest small amounts) it works great. And if your pet is an herbivore, the whole mess makes a great addition to any compost pile.
• Compost it. Newspaper is a great dry/carbon material for your compost bin. I recommend you tear it into strips or shred it as it will compost remarkably faster, and it's worth the effort in the long run. If you haven't started composting yet, take a look at my post on how to build an indoor or outdoor compost bin.
• Mulch: You can use layers of newspaper in your garden as an extra mulch barrier to prevent weeds from cropping up. Lay it down before you put down another, hopefully prettier, mulching material for extra defense and nutrients.
• Wrapping Paper: No, it doesn't look as pretty as that super glossy holiday paper, filled with metals, inks and dyes that are bad for the environment, but it works. According to the Clean Air Council, a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia, 4 million tons of wrapping paper rips itself from children's fists into landfills every year.
• Window Cleaner: Well, it's not really a window cleaner, but if you use it with a window cleaner instead of paper towels, it works great and doesn't leave those linty streaks like paper towels do. Use it on windows, your car, your mirror, your fish tank, your gorilla cage, whatever.
• Fire Starter: Bring it on your next camping trip, and when it's time to get those logs cooking, just crumple it into balls, stuff it in there, and light. If you want an even better fire starter, check out my post on Fire Starters made from lint, egg shell cartons, and old candles.
• Disposable coverings: This one's broad, but super easy. Anytime you wanna make cleanup easier, or to protect furniture, use newspaper as a cover. Use it in the kitchen when peeling veggies, or gross jobs like cleaning fish. Tired of cleaning your floors when it rains? Lay newspaper in your walkway and soak it all up. Painting? Cover the furniture and floors to protect from exuberant strokes.
• Art Projects: There are a million art projects you can do with newspaper, from coasters to fingernail prints. For cool ideas do a search on Pinterest, Tumblr, Deviantart, or a million others. You could do a search for art websites, and then do a search for newspaper art, on any of those websites. And then you can giggle with excitement at your amazing ability to use the internet for finding things.