One time I had reason to burn a small strip of laser printer paper. It burned in fancy bright colors, and didn't smell all that great.

That experience has led me to not be particularly comfortable with using that sort of paper in the garden.

ewwwwww

WOW! I would have never known that one!!

Paper with multi colored inks are not good for the garden or the compost pile as the inks are full of chemicals.

Here is a link that might be useful: Win Free Garden Stuff

Office paper can have whiteneners and chemicals meant to allow inks to stick evenly and consistently. Inks on the papers also are more chemical based. I don't recommend it. The paper put on your garden should be grayish or brownish and the ink should be soy-based.

Shredded paper can be a mess unless you keep it covered with another mulch like pine straw or pine bark fines. It blows all over the place when it dries out unless covered. Since we live inside city limits, this is unacceptable. May be different other places.

hmmm yes it is not the kind of paper to put in the garden,,,but wonder if it could have some use as animal litter, say in the hen house or pig pen, the manure could break it down...but yes the animals would probably try to eat it, and just end up with semi toxic composted paper/manure. guess it just has to be made into paper again.

i use it in my worm bin, black ink only, and it seems to be OK

Well, I've used it as mulch in my garden.

I have a pile of kid's school papers, office papers, and old mail that I shred. I'd say most of the ink is black. I use it as a layer in my lasagna beds, (I've got about 10 bags ready to go as soon as the weather cooperates), in my compost pile, and I've used it as mulch too.

If you wet it down, it won't blow away. As a matter of fact, it's not going anywhere! It can actually get a bit stiff and matted, so I keep it away from the crown of plants for this reason.

A downside for me is that it is very bright in the sun! It really hurts my eyes, even with sunglasses. So often, since I've used the paper as a last-resort mulch, as I get grass clippings I will spread them over the paper. At the end of the season I either plant my cover crop in it or just cover with shredded leaves for the winter.

Dee

Mary, I was just thinking about my answer, and I don't think I've ever actually used the shredded paper as mulch in a vegetable bed. I don't think I ever consciously made a decision not to, but it just happened to work out that the shredded paper went into a flower bed.

However, I rotate my beds every year, so vegetables have been planted in a raised bed where the previous year's paper mulch has been incorporated into the soil.

Just wanted to clarify in case it makes a difference to you.

:)
Dee

I use it in my vegetable garden with no noticeable problems. Once wetted down the shredded paper kind of melds together. It's not going anywhere! It works quite well. As mentioned above, it is great for worm bins. We've raised red worms on it for more than a decade and never seen any adverse affects.

George