----- Original Message -----
From:
c*@lehighcounty.org
To: community_garden@mallorn.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 2:46
PM
Subject: RE: [cg] using shredded office
paper in compost
Let
me set the record straight--the best thing to do with paper is recycle it into
more paper. As for composting it, paper does have one
nutirient--Carbon! Folks have learned that they need to balance
Carbon adn Nitrogen, and paper is VERY high in Carbon, so it makes
sense. Unfortunately, in the typical outdoor pile, as soon as it
gets wet, it loses its structural properties and does not provide the
pore space that we are looking to our high carbon materials, like leaves,
twigs and straw, to provide. But it's main value is in worm bins as
bedding-something to maintain moisture and give the worms a home that you can
bury the food in. As for the risk from dioxin in
paper--fuggetaboutit! You could mulch your tomatoes for 50 yrs with
nothing but office paper and hardly budge the risk-o-meter a hair. But I
certainly dont recommend it--there are better things to use as mulch and to do
with the paper--RECYCLE IT!
Wormly yours,
Cary
Cary--as you know, I greatly respect your composting
knowledge, but I could not disagree more with you on this one. These
papers ARE bleached with chlorine and do, as a result, contain dioxins that
may well survive the process (providing the worms survive it, of
course). All they can possibly contribute to the process is
problems--certainly no nutrients. And much-safer newspapers are so
abundant, I have to ask--why use something less good and potentially
harmful?
Here's how I answered the whole
"white paper in compost or as mulch" question for gardens Alive
recently:
Best
fishes, Mike McG
----- Original Message -----
From:
c*@lehighcounty.org
To: community_garden@mallorn.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 2:05
PM
Subject: RE: [cg] using shredded
office paper in compost
I have used shredded office paper in lots of
bins. The only trouble comes at the very beginning, becasue those
sharp edges hurt! The best thing to do is to wet the paper several
days before adding the worms, to give it a chance to soften up. The
glossy paper is fine to include in small amounts. The glossiness
comes from clay, and the colored inks are much less toxic than the used to
be.
Hi
Judy!
My worm
composting friends told me not to include glossy colour paper in worm
boxes because they contain toxins the little guys can't break
down. They can handle just about anything else. But that's worm
composting. I'd be worried about bleach and dioxin from white
paper.
Maybe
someone else knows if there are other safe ways to break down bleached
and dyed paper?
Rhonda Teitel-Payne
Urban Agriculture Coordinator
The Stop
Community Food Centre
Phone: 416-652-7867x22 Fax:
416-652-2294
P.O. Box 69, Stn. E., Toronto, ON. M6H 4E1
