Although we live in the digital age, there is still a lot of paper in circulation: billions of letters, notices, bills, bank statements, advertisements are received every year all over the globe. But what happens to this junk mail? Most of us throw it in the bin without thinking twice, ignoring that it can have a second life and can be recycled in a useful and creative way. For many others, however, even an unwelcome letter is a precious resource to be used in the most disparate ways: to heat the house, or to create works of art and much more.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Even though we live in the digital age, di paper a lot of them still circulate: billions of flyers,letters, notices, bills, statements, advertising they are received every year around the globe. But what happens to this Junk Mail? Most of us throw it in the bin without thinking twice, ignoring that it can have a second life and can be recycled in a useful and creative way. For many others, however, even an unwelcome letter is a precious resource to be used in the most disparate ways: to heat the house, or to create works of art and much more.
Keeping in mind that most junk mail including window envelopes can be thrown into the paper bin, here are some tips on how to reuse unwanted mail. Of course, always take into account the type of paper you are using and any chemicals it contains.
Index
For the House
1) As a fuel as an alternative to wood
If you have stored a large amount of junk mail, you can make some "Bricks" of pressed paper that you can use in your fireplace to warm up during the winter e thus limiting the use of wood or the little devil to light the fire. The procedure is very simple: just water, paper and a paper compactor that you can buy online at a price around 20 Euros.
2) As a packing material
Today the market offers a great variety of packaging materials, but why not reuse good old paper? It will be enough just to shred the junk mail by hand or by passing it in a paper shredder, in this way we will get a great do-it-yourself alternative for our packages
3) As a litter for animals
A time when there were not all the products for the care and hygiene of pets paper was the most used material. Once the junk mail is shredded we could use it as litter for our beloved rodent for our cat.
4) Like a funnel
Take one of the many envelopes for received letters, perhaps of those in more resistant coated paper. Cut a small part of one of the corners (you will have obtained the bottom of the funnel) and a large part from the opposite corner (the mouth of the funnel).
For the garden
For use in the garden it is good to make sure that they are not there toxic adhesives or inks on the paper to be used.
5) Create biodegradable jars
With junk mail, especially advertising flyers, we can create comfortable and practical jars in which to sow or plant young shoots. Later we could plant the paper pot directly into the ground where it will rot. To make them you can help yourself with the PotMaker. In this way we no longer have to buy plastic jars thus saving money and resources.
6) As a mulch
We can use junk mail in our garden as it were strame. This will create a barrier from weeds and keep the soil moist with all the advantages of a traditional mulch. If you think the solution is unsightly, don't worry: you can always cover everything with a layer of leaves or with traditional mulching material.
For creative use
7) Making recycled paper
Thanks to junk mail we could try our hand at creating our own recycled paper in a simple and fun way. The web is full of tutorials on how to make it.
8) Portraits with mosaic technique
Here is an example of how you can increase your finances by recycling materials. Artist Sandhi Schimmel Gold managed to earn money by reusing his junk mail and making some surprising colorful portraits in mosaic style with pieces of paper. We can do it too in a simple way: just take a picture of the subject we want to portray, cut colored pieces from junk mail and magazines, and paste them on the image.
9) Party decorations
Classic paper swags and party decorations can be safely made using junk mail instead of traditional paper.
10) Bookmarks
We could simply take one of the many advertisements we receive and use it as a bookmark. But there is a nicer way to do it: cut a corner of an envelope and use it with the page of the book you are reading. Here is an original and recycled bookmark.
Perhaps from tomorrow we will look at junk mail with different eyes, already imagining a second life.
Recycle people, recycle!
