Deals on multiple Sunday newspaper subscriptions are great for bringing more coupons into your home, but it also means there’s a lot of newspaper that goes straight into the recycling. How about squeezing out another use for them? Here are 10 ways to reuse newspaper!
Gift Wrap – Save the comics section from the newspaper and you’ll never need to buy wrapping paper again!
Seed Starters –– Make your own seed starters from newspaper. Once planted, the newspaper will deteriorate and allow the roots to grow deep. You can also put sheets of newspaper between plants in your garden to help keep the weeds down.
Odor Absorber — Newspaper is great at absorbing odors. Stuff it inside a pair of shoes, a diaper bag, or even your refrigerator to help get rid of smells. Genius!
Compost Material – Newspaper is a great addition to compost bins, including worm bins!
Pets – If you’re house training a pet or need bedding for a cage, newspaper dominates. Many animal shelters accept newspaper donations as well!
Craft Projects – Cover your table with newspaper before starting a project with your kids. Pinterest has an abundance of paper mache projects to do with your kids this summer, or you could even make your own piñata for a party.
Breakables – Whether you’re shipping something, or getting ready to move, newspaper is a great packing material.
Household Cleaning – Newspapers can absorb spills just as well as paper towels and are great for washing windows.
Prevent Ice on Windshields – If you park outside in the winter, place newspaper on your windshield to prevent icing. No more scraping car windows when you’re already running late!
Ripen Tomatoes — Get your green tomatoes to red quicker by wrapping them in newspaper and storing them in a dry, cool place.
How do you reuse your newspaper?
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I read somewhere you could make fire starter logs by wetting newspapers and make
We line the bottom of kitchen garbage cans to soak up liquids and help with odors.
I had a buddy who is a car buff and he told me to use only newspaper when detailing my car windows. I also use a home-made recipe for glass cleaner and have never had such clean windows with no streaking!!!! Glass cleaner recipe: 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol, 1 tsp. liquid detergent, 1 Qt. water.
The best part is you don’t have to scrub so hard to get it streak free.
Lay them on your counter when preparing food, packing meat to be frozen, peeling/cutting fruit. Wrap up the unnecessary food inside the paper then toss in the compost or yard waste can!! Biodegradable and also no need to sanitize or clean the counter!
You can also lay them on top of your fridge or cabinets to ‘catch’ the dust and grime. When they get nasty enough… toss, and replace! No cleaning required!
I already use a few of these ideas, but thanks so much for the tomato ripening one. As an avid gardener I’ll be trying this one next fall when I bring the green tomatoes in before a freeze.
I have a suggestion similiar to Mona Fields newpaper logs. Do you use those outdoor citronella candles in buckets? The wick burns out and there is still a lot of wax. I melt the wax on our outdoor fire pit or BBQ (Don’t melt indoors!) and then sprinkle it on newspaper. Wrap the newspaper around a standard piece of firewood. We keep these in the RV for helping to start and keep a fire going in damp conditions while camping. And the citronella keeps bugs away! We also use them in our outdoor fire pit at home. It really helps with early spring and late fall fires when everything is wet. Note: Do not use these in your indoor fireplace!
Donate to OFOSA for the animal cages and crates 🙂
We line our Portland compost buckets with newspaper.
Oops….meant “worry” about
Frankly….now that the Oregonian is going to quit delivering 7 days a week, not much paper to sorry about anymore.
Use newspaper as a weed preventer in the garden.
When preparing a new planting bed or vegetable garden, remove all existing weeds, amend the soil and then plant your plants, once everything is planted cover the bare soil with several sheets of newspaper and then top with mulch or bark. Or, if you are not ready to plant, cover the soil with the paper and mulch or bark; when you are ready to plant, pull the mulch back, and dig your hole through the paper, plant your plant, and re-spread the mulch/bark.
The newspaper will block light from reaching the soil reducing the number of weed seeds that will sprout, and any seeds that do sprout will have a hard time growing up through the paper and mulch.
Newspaper Logs! Like Presto Logs… http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Newspaper-Logs