Composting With Cardboard
Because I'm constantly buying things online I seem to have an endless amount of cardboard boxes and after doing some research I realized that I could recycle the cardboard myself by using it for compost.When making compost I used to always be on the lookout for "browns". The magical ratio of 1 part greens to 30 parts brown was the bane of my existence since I had plenty of table scraps and vegetation to supply the greens but no dry leaves for the browns. As it turns out, cardboard is a perfect source of carbon or "browns" so all I needed to do is chop it up and add it to my compost pile.
I don't have a heavy duty shredder---just a run of the mill shredder that is capable of shredding cd's and plastic cards so I was certain that it would handle cardboard easily and it definitely did. All I do is tear the cardboard into small squares and feed it into the shredder and then POOF, a bounty of browns are ready for my compost.
But it doesn't stop at compost. I also use the shredded cardboard as bedding for my worm bin and I've recently started to use it as mulch in my beds. Why pay for coconut coir or straw when you can recycle cardboard and get it for much cheaper.
If you plan on shredding some cardboard just make sure you stick to the brown stuff. Most regular brown cardboard is printed with soy based inks so it is relatively safe in the garden.
I would stay away from any cardboard that is glossy, colored, or coated in any wax or special plastic.
Just for fun, here is a link to a farm which is doing this on a large scale!
Clearly, paper shredders aren’t just used to destroy documents containing confidential or sensitive data; people who are into gardening can also use these create compost for their home garden. Shredded cardboards can help provide the microorganisms in the earth the energy needed for the composting process to work. And the great thing about this is there is no waste whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteRuby Badcoe