Newspapers - Our Versatile Medium

Thank goodness for newspapers we can fold under our arms, that fly in the breeze, crinkle, and blacken our fingers ...

Speaking with some lovely elderly folk this week, I was reminded not all of us are living, or aspiring to live, in the digital world, preferring to hang onto familiar, comfortable ways.

Many pensioners don't have access to a computer or the skills to actually use one. The unknown is too daunting. By the conversations I've had, some retirees are simply not interested in learning new information, period.

I was reminded how enjoyable it is to sit outside in the garden or at the kitchen table with a nice cup of tea and read a newspaper from back to front, soaking in the current happenings. It's just not the same as sitting in front of a computer, staring at a screen.

While I also like to read online articles, I admit, I wholeheartedly agree. Besides, there are so many useful purposes newspapers serve us after we've digested the informative words. I, for one, would miss them terribly if all hard copies were made extinct.

How would I line my fluff ball's kitty litter tray? Newspaper is perfect for absorbing odours and wetness. It's also an amusement for cats. I've watched them dive under the thin, paper covers only to see mischievous eyes peek out at me.

You can't beat newspaper when cleaning windows! Water stains magically disappear right before your eyes.

Newspaper is handy for cleaning ovens, warm barbeque plates and grills, or for packing material around fragile items when moving house. You can even use it as environmentally friendly wrapping paper, especially if you spice it up with decorative creativity.

In the garden newspaper lines up beautifully under mulch to keep the dreaded weeds at bay, while eventually transforming into organic matter.

Kids love arts and crafts. Give them newspapers and an adhesive and they're entertained for hours. Show them how to make papier mache even better!

What about our warming wood heaters? Kindling and crumpled up newspaper does the trick to get them going. Bonfires, camp fires, any fires, for that matter, will ignite with paper and a flame.

There are so many more uses for this inscripted, informative, thin, material. The list is endless such as, a fruit and vege draw liner or shelf liners in general, drop sheets when cleaning, staining or painting something. Use as a shape keeper or a deodoriser by crinkling up balls of paper and stuffing them into your shoes. In fact, crumpled up newspaper placed in an old suitcase for a couple of weeks will absorb a stale stench.

Newsprint even ripens green tomatoes to a lovely red if you wrap them, place them in a box and close with a lid. Wet shredded newspaper is also superb compost material if added to your compost heap. Your earthworms will love it.

Let's keep our precious, hard copy newspapers circulating for all the above reasons, but especially for those of us who delight in reading the stories with our noses engrossed in the print, while manually turning each page. When we're well and truly done with our papers, we can still recycle them and help save the earth's natural sources.