What's best for the planet, recycling paper or burning it instead of wood?

[Beryl]

I have been having a good Spring Clean today and shredding lots of old letters etc.  I can't really post all these bits of paper into the paper recycling bin, so I thought I would keep them and get a paper brick maker and turn then into 'logs' in anticipation of having our woodburner.

My mind moved on... and I wondered if it was more Green to recycle all the papers I have into logs for the fire ( I have got to burn something) or  continue taking them to the village recycling bin.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

Recycling is greener because it keeps the carbon locked up for longer rather than releasing CO2 (a greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere by burning.

[Beryl]

Thank you . I will recycle the big stuff then and just make bricks with my shredded paper.[:D]

[thetwoofus]

how about the garden ? if your into that sort fo thing shred it and bung it in the compost heap

[Dick Smith]

I didn't know you could compost paper (duh!) so I looked it up. It seems some paper is OK and some is iffy:

Pigments themselves still contain heavy metals such as zinc and copper,

although overall amounts of heavy metals have been reduced. Although

toxins are present in quite small amounts, all the sources I consulted

agreed that contemporary printed newsprint, including colored

newsprint, and cardboard boxes are safe for garden use. Glossy inserts,

shiny ink of any sort, magazines, and colored paper do not make

appropriate compost or mulch materials, due to a higher prevalence of

toxics within the paper and ink, and likelihood of "de-inking" (ink

sliding off the paper into your garden).

So OK for newsprint and general printing papers, but not glossy mags.  I got the info here:

http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2004/02/12/umbra-papercompost/

[Dick Smith]

Then I found this:

Composting paper

We

have recently acquired a document shredder to safely dispose of

unwanted documents, documents, bank statements, junk mail etc. We would

very much like to incorporate the shreddings into out compost, but are

concerned about the possible effects of printing inks. Please could you

advise?

Adding

paper to your compost heap is fine. The inks that are used in modern

printing are vegetable based, non-toxic and not damaging to the

environment. If you do not produce a lot of woody waste then paper is a

good alternative as it provides the fibre, necessary to make good

compost. Ensure that you do not add too much shredded paper all at once

and mix it well with other waste.

So, pick an answer!

[Cassis]

[quote user="Albert the InfoGipsy"]Recycling is greener because it keeps the carbon locked up for longer rather than releasing CO2 (a greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere by burning.[/quote]

Ah - but isn't Beryl going to have to burn something anyway to provide heat? So if it's not the paper brick, she's going to release the same CO2 from a log?

[Will]

The first Mrs Will worked for a paper manufacturer (one reason why I enjoyed The Office so much but that's another story).

The problem with recycling paper is that if the end product is going to be any use at all it needs to be bleached, using chlorine, and has to undergo several other chemical treatments. So although you may feel green by using recycled paper,the chemical waste resulting from the process has actually been very un-green. Other points about recycling paper are apparently that paper can only be recycled very few times before the fibres break down completely, and that it has no effect whatsoever on the rain forests. Paper is made from softwoods, the rain forsts are tropical hardwoods.

So you are probably being more environmentally friendly by burning it.

[Beryl]

I will be burning wood if not my paper bricks, so I won't be that environmentally friendly  [:$] . Just wondered what would be the lesser of two evils.

I don't like putting paper on compost, it takes far too long to breakdown.

[Dick Smith]

Do you shred it? Apparently shredding is important. Julie's shredder is greener than mine, as mine is electric but hers has a handle...

[Tresco]

Beryl, how are you adding it to the compost?  I rip it up, then scrunch it up, and add it in layers between other materials. I get rid of a fair amount that way. Probably half the total quantity.

Some is used for fire-lighting, and the rest to recycling.

[Cassis]

[quote user="beryl"]

I will be burning wood if not my paper bricks, so I won't be that environmentally friendly  [:$] . Just wondered what would be the lesser of two evils.

[/quote]

Don't fret - wood is a carbon neutral fuel, unlike fossil fuels.  Not evil.  Neither is burning paper.

[Dick Smith]

[quote user="Cassis"][quote user="beryl"]

I will be burning wood if not my paper bricks, so I won't be that environmentally friendly  [:$] . Just wondered what would be the lesser of two evils.

[/quote]

Don't fret - wood is a carbon neutral fuel, unlike fossil fuels.  Not evil.  Neither is burning paper.

[/quote]

It is if it's in your sock drawer.

Good to know, though, given the pall of woodsmoke over Normandy in winter.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

So, reading all the responses, it seems to me that the BEST thing to do with shredded paper is to dig a deep hole and chuck it in. Keep going until is is almost full, cover it over, plant a tree on top of it and move on. After about, oh, 10 miilion years it will be coal. This way:

- the carbon stays locked up;

- the tree absorbs yet more carbon and makes up for the tree cut down to manufacture the paper;

- the need for additional chemical processing in the recycling process is avoided.

There's probably an EU grant for this sort of thing. Anyone spot any obvious flaws???

[Cassis]

Yes.   You failed to install a solar panel in the tree.

I really think that solar panels look lovely on rooftops, don't you?  They would be even better if they adorned trees.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Cassis"]Yes.   You failed to install a solar panel in the tree.

I really think that solar panels look lovely on rooftops, don't you?  They would be even better if they adorned trees.

[/quote]

We could paint it green!

[Will]

[quote user="Jon"]
There's probably an EU grant for this sort of thing.

[/quote]

Thanks for nothing. I've spent most of the day researching EU energy policy following one of the most boring days of my life a few weeks ago in Brussels. Optipolygeneration is the buzzword of the moment (seriously).

[mint]

will, now i just have to KNOW what optipolygeneration is.  does the "opti" bit have something to do with optimum and then "poly" for "many" and generation as in "produce".  go on, tell; am i even close?

[Dick Smith]

'Opti' - greatest or best?

'Poly' - many or multiple?

'generation' - creation?

Bestmanycreation?

I think someone is making this up. Or else they have really started using Europanto in Brussels.

[Will]

You can find out more here: www.optipolygen.org - but I warn you, you may not be much wiser after you have been there.

Dick's quite close, particularly his last sentence.

[Pierre ZFP]

Meanwhile.......  Burning paper is OK from the point of view that it is carbon neutral, that is, the tree it came from grew recently, not a fossil fuel, so it is more or less the same as burning a wooden log.  Now as for compost, the answer is more complicated. Carbon emmissions will still be given off as it rots but at a much slower rate.  The real problem is in a slightly bogus statement on a previous post.  If the paper has been printed with vegetable dyes then fine but an awful lot of printing these days is by laser printer and these 'inks' are extremly harmful if composted.  I used to compost a lot of paper but not now.  I think the local recycler or the paper log route is best overall.

[Cassis]

I read the same thing somewhere recently about not composting printed paper due to possible harmful inks.