Newspapers these days are primarily printed with soy-based inks, which makes them safe to compost. In addition to composting, newspapers can be used in the garden to suppress weeds, grow seedlings, protect freshly harvested produce in root cellars, and much more. To make your home a little greener and reduce waste, here are 12 clever ways to repurpose old newspapers in your garden and beyond.
1. Suppress weeds.
Weeds often poke up through bare spots in mulch and they can easily take over your garden if you don’t remove weeds regularly. But you can stay on top of weedy issues by covering your soil with a few layers of newspaper. Piling 1 to 3 inches of mulch on top of the newspaper layer will conceal the newspaper nicely and make your veggie and flower beds even more weed-resistant.
2. Start composting.
The easiest way to get rid of large quantities of newspaper is to shred the paper and place it in your compost bin or pile. Shredded newspaper breaks down much faster than whole newspaper sheets; however, newspaper will need to be mixed with plenty of “green” or nitrogen-rich items for proper composting. For best results, you’ll need about 1 part kitchen scraps or “green materials” for every 3 parts newspaper.
3. Make seed starting pots.
If you’re looking for a more eco-friendly alternative to plastic pots for starting seeds indoors, try making your own biodegradable seedling pots with newspaper, a paper towel tube, and some paper tape. Cut the newspaper into 3 to 4 inch wide sections, shape the paper around the cardboard tube to create a cylinder, press one end of the newspaper shut to form the pot base, and then secure it all with paper tape. You can plant newspaper pots right along with your seedlings at transplanting time to minimize root disturbance and make planting easier.
4. Start a new garden bed.
Start new raised garden beds off the right way by layering several sheets of damp newspaper over the ground before filling your raised garden with soil. The newspaper will suppress any existing weed or grass seeds and eventually decompose back into the soil so you won’t need to worry about removing it later on. You can also use sheets of newspaper as the base layer beneath a hügelkultur garden or whenever you want to build new soil using the lasagna gardening technique.
5. Wrap tender bulbs.
Growers in chilly climates need to dig up tender bulbs, like dahlias, gladiolus, and ranunculus, in fall and overwinter the bulbs indoors to keep these plants safe from severe cold. Many growers pack their bulbs in boxes filled with sand or sawdust to ensure they don’t dry out over the winter. But individually wrapping bulbs in newspaper also shields them from bruising and desiccation.
6. Reduce ethylene gas in root cellars.
Apples, pears, and many other types of fruit release ethylene gas, which causes vegetables to ripen and decay faster. Fruit and vegetables are usually stored separately in root cellars to slow down the spread of ethylene gas and keep vegetables from spoiling. But you can keep ethylene gas more contained and preserve root cellar veggies even longer by individually wrapping fruit in newspaper before storing it away.
If your root cellar gets a lot of light, spread newspaper over your potatoes to keep them from turning green.
7. Mulch fall beds.
Covering your garden with a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch in fall protects soil from damaging winter weather. Many growers choose natural mulches like autumn leaves or weed-free straw for their gardens, but several layers of newspaper can also function as a budget-friendly and biodegradable mulch. Use rocks or landscape staples to anchor the newspaper in place before the ground freezes. In spring when cleaning up your garden, remove any remaining pieces of newspaper or mix them into your soil.
8. Create seed tape.
Carrots and many other crops have extremely small seeds that are hard to handle and space out in planting holes. Seed tape makes planting these seeds a bit easier and you can create a basic DIY seed tape with newspaper and a natural glue made with a mixture of 1 part flour to 2 parts water. Cut the newspaper into narrow strips, evenly space dots of “glue” along the strips, sprinkle on your seeds of choice, let the glue dry, and then plant the seed tape at the appropriate depth for the seeds you’re growing.
9. Make worm bin substrate.
Composting worms are usually kept indoors in worm bins filled with a natural substrate, like coconut coir. But you can save money on your vermicomposting bin by swapping out some of that coconut coir substrate for shredded newspaper. As the composting worms break down your kitchen scraps, they’ll also nibble on the newspaper and eventually transform everything into nutrient-rich worm castings.
10. Store bare root plants.
Bare root plants are often shipped in damp, shredded newspaper to keep their roots moist and healthy. You can use this technique to store bare root trees or other plants until you’re ready to plant them or that you need to overwinter indoors. Simply wrap the plant’s roots in damp newspaper, tie a plastic baggie around the root ball to lock in humidity, and check the newspaper every once in awhile to ensure it doesn’t dry out.
11. Protect seedlings from cutworms.
Cutworms are the caterpillars of certain species of moths that crawl along the soil line and chew through tender seedling stems in spring. Plant collars are one of the best ways to protect seedlings from cutworm damage and you can make a simple plant collar by forming several layers of newspaper into a cylindrical collar shape. After creating a few plant collars, install the collars loosely around your seedling stems so that the top of the collars extend 2 to 3 inches above the soil line and the collar bases are firmly planted in the soil.
12. Get creative!
There are all sorts of crafty ways to use newspaper for garden-adjacent purposes. You can use newspaper to make a paper mâché piñata for your garden party, form newspaper into seed envelopes for seed saving, or use newspaper as an eco-friendly wrapping paper to gift garden goodies to friends. Feel free to let your imagination run wild as you dream up even more ways to make old newspapers work for you.