hi,
well a few things came to mind , you mentioned money. ?
but renting a leaf shredder would be the quick way
get a lg shredder then compost it . no quetion that works have done it for yrs.
I save almost everything flat that is paper or cardboard
and use it around trees, plants, in pathways, with mulch over it , it disaapears in 1 season .
if you,ve been wondering about a new pathway here,s your chance lay it down 3,4 in thick and cover with wood chips .
or simply take boxes of it and pile deep around the base of a tree and put a bag of chips over it ,
but not knowing what kind of landscaping you have I think renting a lg shredder would be quikest . you might consider buying a small electric one would take a awhile but you can work at your own pace .. Rick

I had a similar problem and DH suggested we burn it in the fireplace. Or, can you burn leaves and throw the documents on the pile?

I dont know where you are but there is a business here by me that is called security shredders and they come out and either take your documents to be shredded and send you a certified paper to that effect or do it onsite. It cost me 40.00 and they came to the house with a truck and shredded a whole garage full of old business papers.

I never called a shredding company. I assumed that It would cost a lot more. I'll see if it's that reasonable here in NJ. I like the idea of just laying in down and covering it with mulch. I wonder how thick I could lay it. I heard that in landfills, old newpapers don't decompose. I heard that 40 year old newspapers were still readable. I guess my wooded garden would have a lot more micro-organisms to break down the paper.

Thanks for your responses

hi
I have this , well paper in as deep as 4 in or so and covered . more worried about re use and weeds that it rottin so what does it matter , and 1/2 in paper does,nt last the whole season. so? cardboard is my fav mulch. if some one does come to shred it put a bunch in trash cans to save it , you wil still have it and it will be better mulch , if you had the wood chips to cover it I may go as high as 6 in, ??? Rick

Modern newspaper is made of recycled paper, it had to be decomposed to make new paper...I think that will decompose in the ground...I think some people use papers to lasagne garden...might do a search and see. The paper to worry about is the colored glazed, I think it will not decompose very well. I know a lot of people do and some do not use it to shred and make homemade paper with it.

This isn't newspaper. They are office papers. Some from computer printouts, some are colored, not full color, like photos.

Recycled papers aren't decomposed papers.

Start up a vermicomposting bin for future paper disposal. My worms get all important papers. Nothing left.

Moni

Check out the Soil Compost & Mulch Forum!

You can make a compost pile out of no more than paper & coffee grounds.

In a nutshell (which also can be composted):

tear paper as much as is easy.
The more surface, the faster it'll decompose.
Toss it onto the ground.
Add a layer of "green" (nitrogen) such as coffee grounds, tea leaves, grass clippings.
Add a layer of "browns" (carbon) such as more paper, cardboard, autumn leaves.
Repeat repeat repeat.

To keep it all from blowing away, surround it with bales of hay or build an inexpensive enclosure from something like chicken wire & wood stakes, re-bar, or largish sticks (from pruning).

Compost happens faster with warmth & water, so place the pile in a sunny spot & add leftover kitchen liquid (water from spaghetti or potatoes for example), wet "greens", etc.

People sometimes do water their compost, butI think that sounds like a job.

Compost is fun.

Soil Compost & Mulch Forum is on the gardenweb "side":

At the top of this page, under the part of the logo that says "The Internet's Garden & Home Community", click on Garden Forums.