Jake from Dutchess County, NY emailed me with this question: “Do any of you Wise Gardeners use shredded paper in your compost pile? I keep reading that if I buy a simple $35 shredder I can turn my (mostly b&w) office and junk mail paper into good carbon compost. Sounds too good to be true.” Aside from an occasional tea bag tag, I don’t put paper in my compost pile, so I can’t answer from experience. If anyone reading this has used paper in their compost pile, please answer Jake in the Comments section.
About Kathy Purdy
Kathy Purdy discovered the joys of writing in fourth grade, when she started corresponding with a former classmate. She's been writing letters ever since, first on looseleaf, then electronically, and now as weblog entries. That makes you, the blog reader, her pen pal. Her first independent (though frustrating) attempts at gardening were made in high school, though the gardening bug didn't bite hard until her mid-thirties, when she found herself mistress of a rural home on 15 acres. • USDA Hardiness Zone:4 • AHS Heat Zone: 3 • Location: rural; Southern Tier of NY • Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian Mountains • Soil Type: acid clay • Experience level: intermediate • Particular interests: colchicums, narcissus, cottage gardening, NY native plants, gardening with/for children
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We shred all of our household paper, including cereal boxes, junk mail, newspaper and compost it with great success.
I bought a truckload of “organic” compost once and it was half rejects from an envelope factory, and half output from a beechnut babyfood factory.
I’ts my understanding that only if the ink is something like soy-based ink should you use printed paper in compost for home use. Many inks contain things you do not want in your body or your garden. Personally I put teabags, excelsior, etc in the pile but not newspaper or office paper. Recyclers now take those and that is a safer way to re-use I think. Sorry.
i regularly shred paper for my compost piles. i especially like to use a handful of shredded paper in the bottom of the kitchen scrap canister — makes it much easier to dump into the compost pile since the coffee grounds don’t clump up (as badly) in the bottom of the can.
i don’t shred / use glossy paper because i don’t know whether i should, but b/w paper composts just fine when mixed with the other pile ingredients. a layer of shredded paper + a layer of other stuff to keep the bits from blowing away, turn periodically and i never see the paper again.
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