Each year, newspaper publishers circulate 24 billion newspapers---and that's just in the United States. It takes a half-million trees just for the Sunday editions each week, while recycling efforts resulted in a 70 percent recovery rate for newspapers and other paper in 2009. Before you toss your newspapers in the trash, consider ways you can recycle them for other uses.
Recycling Centers
Dispose of newspapers with your curbside recycling or at community recycling bins, or organize a newspaper drive to benefit your school, university or favorite charity. Recycling centers send newspapers to paper mills to make new newsprint. Other products made from recycled newspapers include egg cartons, grocery bags, cellulose insulation, tissue paper and paperboard products such as cereal boxes, according to the Newspaper Association of America.
Pet and Wildlife Shelters
Animal shelters and wildlife rescue organizations use clean, dry newspaper to line kennels and cages and shred it for bedding. Check with the Humane Society, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or your local rescue operation about donating newspapers. Ask if they have a preference about storage. Some ask that you store newspapers flat rather than rolled. Remove slick and shiny inserts from the stack, suggests Wildlife Rehab & Education. Those pages aren't very absorbent and some of the inks might be toxic to animals.
Art Classes
Contact an elementary, middle or high school art teacher about donating your old newspapers for classroom use. Newspapers make good drop cloths, to protect tables and floors during messy projects, and their absorbency makes them ideal for cleaning paintbrushes. Students also use them for art projects such as papier mâché.
Around the House
Cleaning glass with newspaper results in fewer streaks and less lint than cloth or paper towels. Because newspaper absorbs odors, place wadded balls in your refrigerator, shoes or other odor-prone enclosed areas. Wadded newspaper also helps shoes, purses and hats retain their shapes. Twist newspaper into tight logs secured with string for use in your fireplace.
In the Garden
Arrange flat or shredded newspapers under mulch, or in place of it, to help control weeds in your garden and flower beds. You can use newspapers for the carbon-rich second layer of a compost pile created for organic gardening.
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