5

I like adding carbon to the scraps I compost by mixing in some shredded newspaper and Yellow/White Pages books (bot not glossy magazines).

What should I check for to make sure I am not adding chemicals that might have a negative impact on the soil or my health (after eating vegetables grown in that compost)? Those chemicals could be in the paper itself or the ink on the paper.

What specifically should I ask the people who print the newspapers and other publications?

NB: I am aware of this related question, but my question is related to commercially printed material, not office/home-printed paper.

|improve this question
  • 1
    Not an answer but I suggest using cardboard/paper from food packaging, and the brown paper that's increasingly used in place of bubble wrap for packing mail order goods. – Chris H Dec 23 '16 at 8:30
  • 2
    There are different kinds of food packaging paper. These papers might be coated with water- and fat-repellent compounds (e.g. polyfluorinated ones). – daniel.neumann Dec 24 '16 at 16:53
1

Paper mills use bonding compounds, dies, and coatings. Pure white paper, for instance, is not just bleached. It has white components to increase the reflectivity. Glossy papers are the worst. They have chemical coatings and there is no law to print the ingredients because we don't eat paper generally. If you are an organic eater, I do NOT recommend placing commercial paper in the compost heap. I recommend recycling it. Food scraps are safe to compost if you read the ingredients when you purchased the food from which the scraps came.

|improve this answer
  • what about cardboards – a coder Mar 24 at 14:20

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.