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Many uses for newspaper — even after you read it
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MARY ANN SWARTZ
FOR THE SHAMOKIN NEWS ITEM
Do you know what the most mispelled word in the English language is? Oct. 5 thru 11 is National Newspaper Week and there’s more to celebrate than streak free windows.
If you want to ripen a tomato quickly, wrap it in newspaper and put it on the counter. This works best at room temperature. I recently read where some papers out west use vegetable based ink. Consumers are able to wrap all their fresh vegetables in the paper before refrigerating. The vegetables last longer and because the ink is vegetable based, it doesn’t harm the produce. If you’re reading a paper printed with standardized ink, you’ll be glad to know that sniffing the newsprint is a good remedy for nausea.
You can use the newspaper as a winterization tool. Insulate your outside faucet. Shut off the valve, drain the excess water, wrap newspaper around it and secure with tape. Cold drafts will always find a way inside, even if you spent weeks sealing up the cracks. When the arctic winds start to descend, newspapers will keep them out of your castle. Fan fold a full page and place it where you can feel the cold coming in. You’ll immediately notice room temperature rising without having to turn up the heat, and I guarantee this one works.
In the spring, use newspapers to keep the weeds away from your plants. Overlap the newspapers as you plant and cover with mulch. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic, but they won’t get through wet newspapers. And, you’ll save on the cost of the plastic as well as weed killers.
Place a few sheets of newspaper inside a plastic bag to pad your knees in the garden. Use a newspaper as a cutting board for juicy produce like watermelon or pumpkins or when peeling potatoes. Once the cutting is done, just wrap the peelings and rinds in the paper and dispose. No messy clean up and you don’t have to waste paper towels.
Place newspaper under a paint can in place of a plastic drop cloth. It will absorb any spills and is a quick clean up. Many of us have shelves in the basement that hold anything from paint cans to oil for your car to canned or jarred fruit. Use newspapers to line the shelves and protect them from any corrosion from the bottoms of the cans.
Forget about special packing products. Use newspapers for packing plates when you move ink or pack them in boxes for shipping. Stuff newspaper in shoes and purses to help them hold their shape. Use rolled up newspaper to stabilize your live Christmas tree. The paper will expand when you pour water in it. Make your own fireplace logs. Roll up a bundle of newspaper pages, and tie up the ends with either twine or wire. Wet them with soapy water and let dry thoroughly, standing them on the end when you store them. Please note that this isn’t intended for use in wood burning stoves.
Newspapers make excellent mats for children’s projects. Use them when your young one is painting with watercolors, finger painting or when it’s time to color Easter eggs. You can even get creative with your newspaper. If you know someone who’s getting married, clip out recipes, household hints, and anything else you know the bride will find helpful in her new life. Paste the clippings in an album — you may even want to write a few notes of your own in the back — and give it as a gift. This is a good idea for your college bound offspring as well.
As you browse through the paper, clip out and make note of any consumer phone numbers or websites. You never know when you’ll need them. Get a bored child’s interest quickly by showing them how to make a paper hat out of a newspaper. If all goes well, you may end up with an origami master on your hands.
You can start your 3 or 4 year old on the road to literacy. Give them a word like “and” or “the,” then give them the newspaper and have them find and circle the word as it appears throughout the paper. You can still buy them the learning toys but don’t be surprised if they like looking through the paper better.
Quick comment on the subject of rebates. I received a story from a woman who told me that she had sent for a rebate and didn’t receive it in the specified time period. In fact she waited for a few months before contacting the manufacturer. She actually received double her original rebate to compensate for the wait. She tells me that companies will usually double your rebate if it’s late; they just don’t advertise it.
The most mispelled word in the English language is “supersede.” We’re so conditioned to words like recede and proceed, that people will just assume it’s spelled with a “c” instead of an “s.” And you read it in the newspaper.
FOR THE SHAMOKIN NEWS ITEM
Do you know what the most mispelled word in the English language is? Oct. 5 thru 11 is National Newspaper Week and there’s more to celebrate than streak free windows.
If you want to ripen a tomato quickly, wrap it in newspaper and put it on the counter. This works best at room temperature. I recently read where some papers out west use vegetable based ink. Consumers are able to wrap all their fresh vegetables in the paper before refrigerating. The vegetables last longer and because the ink is vegetable based, it doesn’t harm the produce. If you’re reading a paper printed with standardized ink, you’ll be glad to know that sniffing the newsprint is a good remedy for nausea.
You can use the newspaper as a winterization tool. Insulate your outside faucet. Shut off the valve, drain the excess water, wrap newspaper around it and secure with tape. Cold drafts will always find a way inside, even if you spent weeks sealing up the cracks. When the arctic winds start to descend, newspapers will keep them out of your castle. Fan fold a full page and place it where you can feel the cold coming in. You’ll immediately notice room temperature rising without having to turn up the heat, and I guarantee this one works.
In the spring, use newspapers to keep the weeds away from your plants. Overlap the newspapers as you plant and cover with mulch. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic, but they won’t get through wet newspapers. And, you’ll save on the cost of the plastic as well as weed killers.
Place a few sheets of newspaper inside a plastic bag to pad your knees in the garden. Use a newspaper as a cutting board for juicy produce like watermelon or pumpkins or when peeling potatoes. Once the cutting is done, just wrap the peelings and rinds in the paper and dispose. No messy clean up and you don’t have to waste paper towels.
Place newspaper under a paint can in place of a plastic drop cloth. It will absorb any spills and is a quick clean up. Many of us have shelves in the basement that hold anything from paint cans to oil for your car to canned or jarred fruit. Use newspapers to line the shelves and protect them from any corrosion from the bottoms of the cans.
Forget about special packing products. Use newspapers for packing plates when you move ink or pack them in boxes for shipping. Stuff newspaper in shoes and purses to help them hold their shape. Use rolled up newspaper to stabilize your live Christmas tree. The paper will expand when you pour water in it. Make your own fireplace logs. Roll up a bundle of newspaper pages, and tie up the ends with either twine or wire. Wet them with soapy water and let dry thoroughly, standing them on the end when you store them. Please note that this isn’t intended for use in wood burning stoves.
Newspapers make excellent mats for children’s projects. Use them when your young one is painting with watercolors, finger painting or when it’s time to color Easter eggs. You can even get creative with your newspaper. If you know someone who’s getting married, clip out recipes, household hints, and anything else you know the bride will find helpful in her new life. Paste the clippings in an album — you may even want to write a few notes of your own in the back — and give it as a gift. This is a good idea for your college bound offspring as well.
As you browse through the paper, clip out and make note of any consumer phone numbers or websites. You never know when you’ll need them. Get a bored child’s interest quickly by showing them how to make a paper hat out of a newspaper. If all goes well, you may end up with an origami master on your hands.
You can start your 3 or 4 year old on the road to literacy. Give them a word like “and” or “the,” then give them the newspaper and have them find and circle the word as it appears throughout the paper. You can still buy them the learning toys but don’t be surprised if they like looking through the paper better.
Quick comment on the subject of rebates. I received a story from a woman who told me that she had sent for a rebate and didn’t receive it in the specified time period. In fact she waited for a few months before contacting the manufacturer. She actually received double her original rebate to compensate for the wait. She tells me that companies will usually double your rebate if it’s late; they just don’t advertise it.
The most mispelled word in the English language is “supersede.” We’re so conditioned to words like recede and proceed, that people will just assume it’s spelled with a “c” instead of an “s.” And you read it in the newspaper.
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