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While I welcome your enthusiasm I would urge anyone not to contaminate your soil with toxin laden printed paper (or its even toxin denser derivative of recycled packaging). At least if you're going to grow food on it you have a responsibility for the mouths fed with it.

With regards to the article: It's inconsistencies like these shown in the article, where there's a detailed list of sciency arguements about why no tilling makes sense but then the same Harvard PhD continues to cover her whole garden with toxic old newspapers which loses me.

Could be that I'm biased since I inherited a garden from similar lassez-fair style "gardeners" and had 20 year old trees collapsing without any storm due to their pest-infestation...




Might have been true 20 years ago. There are very few toxicities in newsprint that rise above natural levels in soil within a very short half life.

https://www.alliumfields.org/2015/05/is-newspaper-in-compost... has data for you and I believe there is a soil health group at Cornell that published alot of studies.


The article simply handwaves the problem of pcb away and there’s not even talk about PFAS.

Here’s an article by a PhD in Horticulture: https://gardenprofessors.com/cardboard-does-not-belong-on-yo...




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