In the 1980s I worked for the National Trust as a forestry worker on a short term contract. I found the work enjoyable and fulfilling.
One of the wardens had come to the NT after many years working as a tree feller thinning coniferous plantations and twisting my mind with tales of pay that allowed him to move freely around the country and the world working.
I had to follow his example and so as soon as I could find the opportunity I set off as a tree feller.I was only slightly disappointed to find that the pay rates had changed little in the intervening 20 years and set to with a will, enjoying myself immensely and reaching unbelievable levels of fitness.
It was around this time that the big push on recycling was kicking off and I watched as pay rates dropped and gradually stands of timber became uneconomic to thin and fell into decline. Eventually the whole thing became unviable and I retired to a life in a cottage with a garden. I decided that I would make my own little stand against the damage done to forestry by recycling paper and find as many practical uses as I could.
With that in mind here are some of the ideas I came up with.
In the home.
There are many uses for yesterdays paper, unfortunately though as many of these include cleaning and fire-lighting, they give little long-term satisfaction. We had a wood-burning stove which was re-lit no more than two or three times a year, I even swept the flue without letting the fire out!
It was once common to use newspaper as carpet underlay, as well as for lining cupboards and drawers. I do know somebody who used newspaper as wall paper, probably a bit 197s now but still makes a good lining paper, especially on rough walls.
I was given a press for making old newsprint into logs for the fire but was not impressed. I thought it an awful lot of work for an end product that gave out not much heat for not very long and that idea soon fell out of use.
The other main use in the house was for cleaning windows and mirrors, use a slash of vinegar on the paper and bring your glass up to a bright shine and the remains of the paper can be added to the compost bin in the kitchen.
In the kitchen line the compost bin with several layers of newspaper, it'll quickly soak up the remains of the tea/coffee pot and any other wet's you include.
In the Garden
It was really out in the garden that I found the most opportunity to divert newspaper from its true purpose which is to prevent the maintenance of woodland. It's hard to know where to start, so lets carry on with the compost bin from the kitchen. Add this to your compost heap or bin. Add shredded paper to the heap if it becomes too wet and use it to line your bin to maintain heat.
As part of my garden was new to domestic cultivation and unyielding to hand tools I grew several crops of potatoes by the no dig method using a large quantity of newspaper as an initial mulch. An excellent method that I heartily recommend.
Use them anywhere as a weed suppressing mulch, if you don't like the birds flocking to read the sports pages cover with compost.
With some deft folding use them as starter pots in the greenhouse, you can plant straight out without removing the pots as they don't last long in the open soil, apart from the tops, which not being buried, last some time and protect from slugs and other crawling pests. (You can use the centres from toilet and kitchen rolls in the same way.)
Come the winter, use them to frost proof tender plants, form windbreaks etc..
Hm, I have more ideas and will return to add them
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