Us coupon clippers always have multiple copies of the Sunday newspaper hanging around. So what do you do with all that paper once you pull out the coupons? Joyce from Saving My Cents shares her ideas for putting that paper to use!
About Joyce:
As a SAHM to 2 little boys, two little cats and one big golden retriever saving my SENSE will never happen, but saving my CENTS has to happen. Anyone who knows me knows my favorite saying is “I’m not cheap, I’m thrifty” and I hope with my website you can be too!
I talk about making sure you get your Sunday newspaper every week, sometimes even extras if the coupon supplement has some great coupons, but what do you do with all that paper on Monday when you have finished reading it? Add it to the garbage to fill up a landfill? Here are a few ideas for re-using your newspaper and also some ideas for what to do with the plastic bag it gets delivered in (and not just your weekly newspaper, don’t forget about the flyer’s that are thrown on your driveway or put in your mailbox, they are recyclable and many times come in plastic bags too!)
1. Perfect for the pooch!! You can use the plastic bags to pick up any messes your dog may make or lay down some paper if you think he may have an accident in the house while you are out or sleeping.
2. Plastic bags are great for a rainy day! The bags the papers come in are the perfect size to keep your wet umbrella in. Ran out of your car and into a grocery store but do not want to leave your wet umbrella sitting in the cart, pull a bag out of your purse and store it in the bag! This idea also works great for wet clothes. Are you heading to the beach, the community pool, keep the bags to carry your wet items home in.
3. Perfect for diaper bags! The plastic bags are a great size to hold baby clothes in, keep a fresh outfit in the bag and it will not get dirty from anything else that may be in the bag, hold dirty diapers in it, store bottles in it, anything you want to store and not roll around in the diaper bag will go great in here or it can be used as a trash bag.
4. Cleaning! Newspaper works great in place of paper towels/rags when you are cleaning glass and mirrors, just spray and wipe like you would with ordinary rags and towels.
5. Soak up the wet! Did you just come in from the rain and your shoes are drenched? Try putting some balled up pieces of newspaper in them to soak up the wet. Spill something in the house, put some paper over it to soak up the spill.
6. Great for the kitty too! Short on cat litter, can’t find any good litter coupons? Try ripping paper into shreds and using in the cat litter box.
7. Wrapping paper! This one is pretty self explanatory, and I know lots of us remember our moms using the Sunday comic strips to wrap presents in, it is one of those things that will never get old!
8. Help to ripen your fruit! Wrapping unripened fruit in newspaper will speed up the ripening process. This winter I had a beautiful tomato plant (we live in Florida so can usually garden year round) well with the unusual cold I had to pick all my tomatoes before they were ripened and before the cold got to the plant, they were still very green and I did not want to see them go to waste so I wrapped them in newspaper and a few days later they started ripening and I was able to use them and they tasted great!
9. Use in the garden! Lay sheets of newspapers about 1/4″ inch thick before covering with mulch, dirt, or whatever you use in your garden, it will help prevent weed growth. Make sure to moisten the newspaper before covering so it stays in place. Here is a really cool way to make seed starting pots out of newspaper.
10. Have fun with the kids! Check out this awesome looking newspaper hut HERE and go ahead and have fun with the kids building and playing in it!
11. Great for keeping breakables safe! I think everyone knows this trick already, if you are packing things away wrap your breakables in newspaper to keep from chipping and breaking.
12. Find out if you can donate your newspapers! Many schools, churches and community groups use the newspaper for craft projects, call around and see if anyone is accepting donations.
13. Combine your newspaper with an old toilet paper roll, roll up the newspaper and stick in the toilet paper roll and you have a nice fire starter log and you recycle more than just newspaper!
14. Remove nasty odors! Crumple up some newspaper and stick it in stinky Tupperware, coolers, shoes, even luggage and it will absorb some of the bad odor!
This post originally appeared on Saving My Cents on April 2nd.
