What to do with all that leftover Newspaper!

Author: Joanie | May 25, 2009

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We suggest a Krazy Coupon Lady subscribe to 4-6 copies of the Sunday paper in order to gain enough coupons to create a stockpile. Read more about finding the best deal for subscriptions in your area: UT or Eastern ID HERE, Treasure Valley HERE,

My Grandmother clips coupons; she always has. She pulls the inserts from her Sunday paper and clips the coupons she wants, then uses them the following week, just like the manufacturer likes. My Grandma is a coupon lady. . . Fast forward a few generations: I am a Krazy Coupon Lady. Extreme coupon moms like me get multiple copies of the Sunday paper, clip all the coupons and use them only in conjunction with store sales. I think it's safe to say I use at most, 1% of the "tree-chopping" paper out of my 10 Sunday newspaper subscriptions. Of course I recycle, but I still hate ALL that waste! I've spent this

past month finding ways to creatively put that excess waste to good use!

Newspaper is a super absorbent because it needs to absorb the ink from the printer. The absorbency is what makes it just so useful in so many around the house ways:

Gardening:
• Peat Pots: Want to get a jump on the season and get your seeds in the soil, but you're afraid of a late spring frost? Plant your seeds in economical peat pots made of newspaper. All you'll need is an empty metal c

an and potting soil. Read step by step instructions HERE.
• Slow Ripen tomatoes: Have a tomato that isn't quite ripe? Wrap it in a few sheets of newspaper and store it in an airtight container in a dark cupboard for a few days. It'll ripen right up! I was amazed at how well this worked!
• Mulch: dampen sheets of newspaper and lay them in your unplanted garden sections. Cover with wood bark so they don't blow away. The newspaper will retain moisture and suffocate out the weeds underneath!

Cleaning and Deodorizing:
• Cleaning Windows: Forget paper towels! Clean your windows with newspaper. "Streak free shine. . . you know how often. . ."
• Damp Shoes: Shoes wet from yard work or fresh out of the washing machine? Stuff newspaper inside the toes and it will absorb the moisture!
• In the Fridge: Line your vegetable drawers with newspaper (I cover with one paper towel) to absorb moisture and keep things smelling fresh.
• Absorb the grease: when frying tortillas, or grilling bacon, I put a few sheets of newspaper under the paper towel to absorb more of that icky fat that my hips DON'T

NEED!

Donate:
• Local Vet or Animal Shelter
• Neighbor or family member who doesn't get the paper

Crafts, just call me 'Martha':
I’m not particularly crafty by nature. I had to force myself to find a newspaper craft project. Though I thought hard {insert deep sarcasm} about creating a paper maché
cornucopia masterpiece and decorating it with sugared dates and winter flora. . . . . I decided to choose something simple I could do with my kids instead. We made maracas! My little ones relished the opportunity to make a huge mess and we had a lot of fun during the makin' and then later while

shakin'! To make your own: Blow up small balloons, then cover with newspaper strips dipped in flour and water paper maché mixture. Dry. Pop the balloons once dry, put in some beans or pebbles, then insert an old pencil and apply second coat of paper maché newspaper strips to the balloon and pencil handle. Dry, then decorate. Voila!