Hello, all! As a newbie, may I say that cardboard works just fine. The first year I was here I double-dug a plot for veggies. A LOT of work! Then I read "Lasagna Gardening" and have been using wet newspaper or cardboard boxes ever since. And this is a WILD piece of land. Cut back what brush/saplings I can and then cover with cardboard, leaves, peat, grass clippings and compost. Plant right down in the layers, putting a bit of potting soil in the hole, then mulching the whole thing again after watering. (May also put some potting soil or compost on top to plant seeds.) I use rocks from the creek for borders, or small tree trunks that were in the way of my garden progress. Have made three herb beds, two large perennial beds and one veggie bed this way. No more digging!

In New Orleans we have about five good reporters who truly knock themselves out regarding gardening and the environment. One reporter in particular is devoted to saving trees in the urban environment and does excellent coverage about endangered trees and "tree schools." She was partly responsible, through her writing, for helping me(through the Live Oak Society) save an ancient oak, "Old Dickory", that was to be destroyed for a new state highway,an Army Corps of Engineers drainage system and a residential subdivision. The road was rerouted, the drainage system revamped and the subdivision developer donated the land upon which Old Dickory lives to public trust. Every Friday we have a huge column about gardening, as well as upcoming garden events. At least twice a month, the Friday feature in The Living Section is devoted to gardening in the New Orleans area and features someone's garden and special interest. There is also a Friday question and answer column. Thank heavens that none of these reporters dumb down anything. We have enough "dumb" in the news as it is.

I guess I wonder: Have you pulled them out and looked at them in the past 5 or 10 years, and extrapolating that into the future, how often will you pull them out and peruse them in the next 5 or 10 years? I love historical newspapers--I work at a newspaper, so I'm very glad that some people believe "important" covers and important journalism have value. But knowing that they will deteriorate and that there is pretty much nothing you can do to keep them pristine, I like the idea a fellow newspaperman did with a few fronts that he especially valued: He framed them and put them up in his finished basement. (He used special, large mounting corners so that if someone wanted to look at inside pages, he could open the frame and take the paper out.) History all around him--not sitting in a box waiting for the moment somebody remembers the newspapers are there. The OP might not have the desire or wall space to do this, but it's an option for some people, perhaps.

joyful guy: There is now a device similar to a really small tall BBQ....you put the charcoal in the top part of it, the crumpled newsprint in the bottom. Set it ON TOP of the grill. Set the newsprint on fire, and in about 5 minutes your charcoal is burning nicely, the newsprint has all burned up and you pour the charcoal out of the device and into the bottom of your grill. So no lighter fluid is needed, and it makes BBQing much much easier and fun. The toughest part of BBQing for me is lighting the coals and making sure that they stay lit, this device takes a lot of that frustration out of the equation. Newsprint: They can also be rolled into "logs" to use as fireplace starters (but don't use the colored print). Passed on to a local organization that deals with children for placing on the table during arts and crafts time. Useful for creativity, having children cut out the words and make stories (kinda like old kidnapping messages). And although not for everyone, it can even be used as wall paper. I did not use newsprint, but I did use the picture books that get damaged beyond repair to "wall paper" one wall on my children's bedroom. Simply took white glue (bought in the gallon), thinned it out and placed full pages on the wall until the entire wall was covered. I used a lot of different books (cleaned out the bookshelves) and my girls are all young so the resulting wall is very colorful and the girls have fun making up new stories for their old favorites depending on the pages they are surrounded by. Since books vary greatly in size, they are placed higgly-piggly not in rows, but newsprint could be done in rows. The boys who are older wanted their room done in old maps. You could finish with a coat of varnish, although since my kids are young I did not. I foresee more pages going up in the future when their tastes change. The white glue is easily removed with a flat paint scraper, not sure that varnish would be. For the colored ads, I have started having my children cut out their "Christmas wish list" and paste them in small books (recycled paper stapled together). It helps greatly when their fondest wish is "this doll......it's got a hat....it's called Hannah (Hadley)....it's really cool! .... and they have it at Wal-mart (K-mart)." Has anyone mentioned packaging? I put it in anything I mail out that requires a bit of stuffing. The soldiers appreciate it as a little bit of home, and I'm told appreciate it almost as much as the care packages....crumpled and all. Old phonebooks: Pass on to individual who does a lot of business (personal or otherwise) in an area that lives outside of it. Perfect for small gluing projects, fingernail painting done by small children, other projects that only require a very small area. When done with project, simply rip out the pages that have been affected and toss. It occurs to me that most of mine have to do with children. =0) That's the season I'm in right now.