I have read that it is a bad idea to compost paper with certain
types of ink (e.g. newspapers that use non-soy inks.)

Does anybody know if office documents from an inkjet printer
(black only) should be also be avoided?

Thanks in advance.


--
Guide To DIY Living
http://www.self-reliance.co.nz
(Work in progress)

Down Under On The Bucket Farm wrote:

I have read that it is a bad idea to compost paper with certain
types of ink (e.g. newspapers that use non-soy inks.)

Does anybody know if office documents from an inkjet printer
(black only) should be also be avoided?

Unless your inkjet is using special metallic inks -- you'd know,
they glitter and are even more hellishly expensive than regular
inkjet cartridges -- the ink in the cartridges is soy-based.

Chris Owens




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Down Under On The Bucket Farm wrote:

I have read that it is a badX-Mozilla-Status: 0009 with certain
types of ink (e.g. newspapers that use non-soy inks.)

Does anybody know if office documents from an inkjet printer
(black only) should be also be avoided?

Unless your inkjet is using special metallic inks -- you'd know,
they glitter and are even more hellishly expensive than regular
inkjet cartridges -- the ink in the cartridges is soy-based.

Chris Owens


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
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-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

In article ,
Chris Owens wrote:

Down Under On The Bucket Farm wrote:

I have read that it is a badX-Mozilla-Status: 0009 with certain
types of ink (e.g. newspapers that use non-soy inks.)

Does anybody know if office documents from an inkjet printer
(black only) should be also be avoided?

Unless your inkjet is using special metallic inks -- you'd know,
they glitter and are even more hellishly expensive than regular
inkjet cartridges -- the ink in the cartridges is soy-based.


Well that is great to know. How about laser printer rejects? Is that
ink also safe?

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:

Well that is great to know. How about laser printer rejects? Is that
ink also safe?

Laser printers don't use ink. "Toner" is melted, and fused onto paper.
That toner can be made of a lot of different things, but usually
includes polyester resins, silicon derivatives, waxes and metals such as
iron oxide. Color toner may contain other metals and plastics to create
the color.

If you have an HP LaserJet printer and you want to know what's in the
toner, you can check-out the Material Safety Data Sheets for the various
toners he

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitiz...ljmsdseng.html

You may note that the toner used in printers built just a few years ago
may differ substantially from toner for newer printers. Generally the
newer toners use smaller particles than the older toners, and that means
different raw materials. Generally toxic materials are avoided because
of the possibility that toner may be inhaled when cleaning the printer.

While I have not read all of the sixty-plus MSDS's for current HP toner,
I would be surprised if you found one with elements that would be
harmful in a compost pile, and certainly not at the levels you would be
putting in to the pile. (A typical printed page only has toner covering
about 5% of the surface area, and your pile isn't going to be mostly
paper, either.) I wouldn't dump loose toner into the pile, though!

IMHO, the residue from the bleaching process used to make the paper
white-white-white is probably more of a concern than the toner fused to
the paper.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug:
Support me at: http://www.holzemville.com/mall/

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:

In article ,
Chris Owens wrote:

Down Under On The Bucket Farm wrote:

I have read that it is a badX-Mozilla-Status: 0009 with certain
types of ink (e.g. newspapers that use non-soy inks.)

Does anybody know if office documents from an inkjet printer
(black only) should be also be avoided?

Unless your inkjet is using special metallic inks -- you'd know,
they glitter and are even more hellishly expensive than regular
inkjet cartridges -- the ink in the cartridges is soy-based.

Well that is great to know. How about laser printer rejects? Is that
ink also safe?

Same soy base . . . soy makes wonderful biodegrageable plastics,
did you know?

Chris Owens




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In article ,
"Warren" wrote:

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:

Well that is great to know. How about laser printer rejects? Is that
ink also safe?

Laser printers don't use ink. "Toner" is melted, and fused onto paper.
That toner can be made of a lot of different things, but usually
includes polyester resins, silicon derivatives, waxes and metals such as
iron oxide. Color toner may contain other metals and plastics to create
the color.

If you have an HP LaserJet printer and you want to know what's in the
toner, you can check-out the Material Safety Data Sheets for the various
toners he

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitiz...ta/ljmsdseng.h
tml

You may note that the toner used in printers built just a few years ago
may differ substantially from toner for newer printers. Generally the
newer toners use smaller particles than the older toners, and that means
different raw materials. Generally toxic materials are avoided because
of the possibility that toner may be inhaled when cleaning the printer.

While I have not read all of the sixty-plus MSDS's for current HP toner,
I would be surprised if you found one with elements that would be
harmful in a compost pile, and certainly not at the levels you would be
putting in to the pile. (A typical printed page only has toner covering
about 5% of the surface area, and your pile isn't going to be mostly
paper, either.) I wouldn't dump loose toner into the pile, though!

IMHO, the residue from the bleaching process used to make the paper
white-white-white is probably more of a concern than the toner fused to
the paper.


Wow that was a lot of information and I really appreciate your time. So
you are saying that, independent of the ink, it is just not a good idea
to be using either laser or injet rejects in the compost because of the
bleach residue?

..

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:

Wow that was a lot of information and I really appreciate your time.
So
you are saying that, independent of the ink, it is just not a good
idea
to be using either laser or injet rejects in the compost because of
the
bleach residue?


Neither concerns *me*. But it seems to me that people who get worried
about these kinds of insignificant things are missing something even
bigger in their quest to micromanage what goes into their pile. Like I
said, the printing on a typical piece of paper is only on about 5% of
it's surface area, yet discussion always seems to focus on that, and
never gets around to discussing what's in the paper itself.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug:
Support me at: http://www.holzemville.com/mall/

On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 16:43:48 GMT, "Warren"
wrote:

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:

Wow that was a lot of information and I really appreciate your time.
So
you are saying that, independent of the ink, it is just not a good
idea
to be using either laser or injet rejects in the compost because of
the
bleach residue?


Neither concerns *me*. But it seems to me that people who get worried
about these kinds of insignificant things are missing something even
bigger in their quest to micromanage what goes into their pile. Like I
said, the printing on a typical piece of paper is only on about 5% of
it's surface area, yet discussion always seems to focus on that, and
never gets around to discussing what's in the paper itself.

My community picks up recyclables, including office paper.
If yours does too, that might be a better of dealing with the paper.

--

Persephone

In article ,
wrote:

On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 16:43:48 GMT, "Warren"
wrote:

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:

Wow that was a lot of information and I really appreciate your
time. So you are saying that, independent of the ink, it is just
not a good idea to be using either laser or injet rejects in the
compost because of the bleach residue?

Neither concerns *me*. But it seems to me that people who get
worried about these kinds of insignificant things are missing
something even bigger in their quest to micromanage what goes into
their pile. Like I said, the printing on a typical piece of paper is
only on about 5% of it's surface area, yet discussion always seems
to focus on that, and never gets around to discussing what's in the
paper itself.

My community picks up recyclables, including office paper. If yours
does too, that might be a better of dealing with the paper.



Mine does not recycle office paper.

wrote:

Neither concerns *me*. But it seems to me that people who get worried
about these kinds of insignificant things are missing something even
bigger in their quest to micromanage what goes into their pile. Like I
said, the printing on a typical piece of paper is only on about 5% of
it's surface area, yet discussion always seems to focus on that, and
never gets around to discussing what's in the paper itself.

My community picks up recyclables, including office paper.
If yours does too, that might be a better of dealing with the paper.

Check to see what they do with the paper first. Many communities
take stuff from the recycling boxes straight to the local
landfill.

Chris Owens




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Chris Owens wrote:

Check to see what they do with the paper first. Many communities
take stuff from the recycling boxes straight to the local
landfill.


That's a myth.

While I won't say there has never been a community that has ever dumped
certain materials when the market dipped, many states have laws that put
caps on the amount of "recycled" materials that can be sent to the
landfill, and that cap is usually barely enough for legitimately spoiled
items.

If "recycled" goods could just be dumped into the landfill with no
controls, there would be no resistance from the cities when people ask
for additional materials to be collected. You don't hear: "Scrap wood?
Sure! We'll add it to the list! After all, we'll just turn around and
dump it anyway!" What you do hear is: "Scrap wood? Sorry, but there
currently is no market, we don't have the storage space to keep it until
there is a market, nor do we have the money to pay someone to recycle it
into something."

Essentially you can file the myth of recycling goods going straight to
the landfill right next to the myth that hospitals declare organ donors
dead sooner than others so they can harvest more organs. Just more scare
stories spread by people who can't stand it when someone else does
something good.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug:
Support me at: http://www.holzemville.com/mall/

"Warren" wrote in message
news:GZ_ab.531643$uu5.88867@sccrnsc04...
Chris Owens wrote:

Check to see what they do with the paper first. Many communities
take stuff from the recycling boxes straight to the local
landfill.


That's a myth.



Its not a myth. I watched our local municpal garbage men just last week
pick up the recylce bin and dump it in with the regular trash. If thats
what they want to do, I don't really care.

Persephone@UndX-Mozilla-Status: 0009
Neither concerns *me*. But it seems to me that people who get worried
about these kinds of insignificant things are missing something even
bigger in their quest to micromanage what goes into their pile. Like I
said, the printing on a typical piece of paper is only on about 5% of
it's surface area, yet discussion always seems to focus on that, and
never gets around to discussing what's in the paper itself.

My community picks up recyclables, including office paper.
If yours does too, that might be a better of dealing with the paper.

Check to see what they do with the paper first. Many communities
take stuff from the recycling boxes straight to the local
landfill.

Chris Owens


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 16:43:42 +0000, Persephone wrote:


My community picks up recyclables, including office paper.
If yours does too, that might be a better of dealing with the paper.

My city does not ... but even if they did, I would not be donating my
scrap paper to them. I would still compost it, as I do now. My reading on
composting tells me to rely on a hot compost pile and a long aging cycle
(at least 1 year) to detoxify darn near anything that might get dumped
into the pile. Even diesel fuel, PCB's and DDT vanish (IIRC, PCB's need 2
years aging).

What's the worry about trace amounts of bleach that somehow managed to
avoid getting neutralized during processing? By the time it goes through a
compost pile and gets to the garden, it will no longer be the same
chemical anyway. By the time that ink or bleach gets to the garden,
environmental pollution in the form of the dust falling from the air will
be a FAR larger concern ... and, unless you live in Bhopal, you somehow
manage to survive that, right?

So shred, compost, garden, harvest, enjoy. Sweat the small stuff if you
want, but leave the 'parts per trillion' worries to people who get paid to
worry about it.

Bill