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Turn that Junk Mail into Garden Mulch

Hate junk mail? Turn this unwanted mail into garden mulch with this easy gardening life hack.

All you have to do is look into your mail box and you will see how much junk mail you get on a daily basis.

Junk mail is unwanted, wastes paper and other materials and ends up on our garbage heaps in huge numbers all over the country.

Let’s put it to use in an environmentally positive way. 

Mailbox filled with junk mail and words Use junk mail for garden mulch.

Got Junk Mail?  Make garden Mulch!

Most cities now have recycling for junk mail, but it can also be used in your garden too!  Get the junk mail off of your desk and into your garden where it can feed your plants for months. 

Remove any envelopes that have cellophane windows. Plastic will not break down in the garden, so we want to make sure that is gone.

Put the junk mail through a paper shredder if you have one. If not, tear it into small sized pieces. Be sure to remove any staples you find – you don’t want to be digging in the dirt and cut yourself with a rusty staple!

Place a 6 inch layer of the shredded paper around your plants.

Water  the paper well.  It will settle down to about 2 inches or so.

Top the paper with a thin layer of top soil, compost, or organic leaf mulch.

The paper will completely break down over the course of a season or two and your soil will be amended nicely.  The earthworms love paper too, so they will find this tasty mulch!

For more gardening tips, please visit The Gardening Cook on Facebook.

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CAPERNIUS

Saturday 9th of May 2015

Another thing junk mail can be used for is fire blocks/fire bricks.

Take a 5 gallon bucket & fill it with your shredded junk mail. next, fill the bucket with water....leave it sit for about 5 or 10 minutes, then take a drill & paint stirrer &blend the paper with the water. in almost no time at all, what you will have is a paper mush. put this mush into a block type mold & leave it sit for 4 or 5 days to dry out. the tighter the block the longer it will burn & the more BTUs it will produce.

admin

Sunday 10th of May 2015

Thanks for the great tips! Carol

14ritt

Saturday 6th of July 2013

Might want to remove the cellophane Windows first

Saturday 6th of July 2013

Of course. Thanks for the reminder.

Carol

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small commission from the sale, but the price is the same for you. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."