Make Paper That Grows - Recycle, Renew, and Plant It In The Ground

How many tons of junk mail do we get over the course of a week across America? Everyone wants to sell you everything and has the solution to any problem you can think of and it fills our trashcans and landfills. Heres a way to put that junk mail to a good use and spare the overburdened landfills too.

This can be used to create anything you like recipe cards, gardening tip cards, gift tags, notepaper, stationary, etc., and makes a very thoughtful gift.

I have found several methods on doing this but none of them seemed to work quite right for me, so through a lot of trial and error and finding a few tricks of my own I was able to get a more desired effect from my project.

Make sure to have removed any foreign objects such as staples, stamps, glue strips, etc., and check your paper for any hint of slick or shine which indicates a varnish has been applied to it and it should not be used.

Step 1: Materials

Prepared paper mentioned in the intro
An old wooden picture frame or make a frame to your desired size
Fine Window or Door Screen Material
A Staple Gun or Heavy Duty Tacks
Old Terry Cloth Towels
White Towels (not terry cloth 2 per sheet of paper)
Baking Sheets
Cooling Racks like you would use for cookies
Bricks or something to add weight
A Blender
A Rolling Pin
A Plastic Container, larger than your frame
A Pitcher
Waxed Paper
Any kind of small flat flower or vegetable seeds, I used tomato seeds for this project.

Comments

[strmrnnr]

What about adding some pureed food to the paper for nitrogen content. If you could pre-mix a 30:1 ratio ( C:N ) and dry it out good, do you think it would start to smell or anything bad?

[DebH57]

IMHO I would be concerned with the food smelling and maybe rotting.

[DIY-Guy]

Try unflavored gelatin powder for a nice nitrogen boost to seedlings on paper or paper-tape, no smell to speak of either.

[mechanolatry]

What would you recommend for a vegan replacement to the gelatin? Would agar-agar work?

[DIY-Guy]

MECHANOLATRY says:

"What would you recommend for a vegan replacement to the gelatin? Would agar-agar work?"



Is agar-agar similar in chemical composition to bone or hair?

Agar-agar is from seaweed, but what chemicals are most of the bulk?

Does agar-agar help strengthen fingernails and hair? If so, it could be a source of chemicals which supply nitrogen.

I'm sure other people would be glad to hear of your findings. Try "nutritional comparison gelatin vs agar-agar" in the Google. Hope you find something!

[Deewheat]

A great idea, although I don't have the space or patience LOL!

[hsmomof2]

This is a great "green" idea for gardening. I feel guilty when I throw away paper, so this would be a neat idea. Is it printer paper that you shredded specifically?

[DebH57]

You can use pretty much any kind of paper Hsmom, read through the intro for guidelines

[hsmomof2]

Thank you for answering back. I miss some of the details the first time I read through instructions.

[DebH57]

NP Hsmom

[im4tooele]

That's so neat!

[DebH57]

Thanks Im4

[chauntee2]

I really like this idea>

[DebH57]

Thanks Cahuntee

[juvinurse]

Even I could do this!

[DebH57]

Yes its pretty easy Juvinurse and if you have kids over the age of 6 they like to get in on the act too

[flothmann]

Ha guys, some very important tips: WARNING: this step it´so critical overall the project.

1) The space between each seed must be taken in consideration because if they are too close each other when the plant grows up they will fight for minerals and like final result you will get two or more weak plants furthermore some may die.

2 ) Keep in mind the germination rate_{, this means that no 100% of the seeds that you place on the paper will germinate. Typ for a supermarket seed is 80% or less check the manufacture if is longer than one year you rate will drop to 40%}, (search for other option)

3) Are you planning to use this paper only to germinate the seed and after 28 days you will transplant to another place (for bigger space) or this is going to be the final position of the plant?
keep in mind the space requirements for an adult plant for example tomato needs at least 1 foot around the root and a lettuce only needs 6 inches

I hope it helps you

[DebH57]

It is mainly used to get plants started and up to the user if they want to thin it out or plant permanently.

[macrumpton]

I wonder if you could build a frame with a couple of crank driven rollers like an old wringer washer or pasta machine and have the rollers squish the water out and flatten the paper. It would probably require the pulp being placed between two sheets of screen or stiff fabric to support the pulp while squishing and drying. Adjusting the tension on the rollers would control the paper thickness.

[DebH57]

I don't see why not but I would use fabric, flat linen towels, etc., as screen would leave a rough imprint on the paper itself.

[aunty]

Good project, you have done well.

[DebH57]

Thank you Aunty

[Bratillia]

Nice one.

[DebH57]

Thanks Bratillia

[thepelton]

The best type of paper to use is dull surface with no colored ink. Colored ink can contain lead, and slick paper uses a clay that might interfere with it's recyclability.

[DebH57]

Yes it is Pelton and all slick and even a hint of gloss should be avoided. Thaks for your comment.

[strmrnnr]

If I used fresh seeds ( say from a red pepper ) could I allow them to do the intial drying in the paper and store them in a dry area unrefrigerated?

[DebH57]

I have never tried it so I can't say with certainty, but I don't see why not, it would be worth a shot at it to find out. Great idea, thanks for commenting.

[Kira53]

When do you put the lint out for the birds. It's June 20th, do you think they still need lint? Also where do you put the lint for them to find it ? Thanks for you instructables.

[DebH57]

I keep an old thistle seed sock tacked to a post full of it. I bought it at Wally World it's kind of like a mesh bag and they pick it out and since they are still pecking at it I guess they are still nest building.

[Lor]

This instructable is SO cool. I love that it's multi-instructive, i.e., adding seeds to the paper. I found your page from your instructable on making seed tapes. What a find you are. I'm subscribing! Thanks a bunch...hehe (pun intended).

[DebH57]

Thanks Lor I appreciate you too!

[Lor]

(pun referring to carrots; i know that was obscure.)

[BettyBoop1]

This looks interesting. I will try with the grandkids next visit

[DebH57]

Good idea Betty, have fun!

[Raydoom]

This is a briliant idea, mabey if you add bleach or acid when you blend it you will have a clean white finished product great idea ,im lookn forward to doing this

[DebH57]

Most commercial inks and newsprint ink are soy based now days and highly biodegradable (but not all), a general rule of thumb is to avoid anything with even a hint slick or shine, indicating a varnish has been applied which in most cases is needed for non soy base inks to prevent bleeding and transfer, and sometimes advertisers want the shiny regardless. I don't know what if any reaction bleach would cause to the seeds embedded in it.

[RoBear613]

Most commercial inks use heavy metals to give the colors vibrance and depth. You should never use these in the garden. You should, instead, send these to the recycler so they can be properly de-inked. Newspaper (not the insets), however, uses vegetable based inks and are very ecologically friendly. You can even spread them out as a weed block before applying a top dressing of mulch.

[DebH57]

Thanks RoBear thats why I stated above about not using papers with any hint of shine to them those types also require a varnish to be applied to retain the colors. Thanks for your comment.

[flashanimator]

This is awesome, its like the product they sell on tv, but you can grow what ever you want, instead of just the same old flowers you see in alot of gardens