Never would have thought to try that. As we do not have a newspaper subscription nor the space to store anything of immediate or repetitive use, currently I am unable to try this myself.
I would imagine, however, that the newspaper would deteriorate very quickly, leaving wet mulch on your windows. Also, wouldn't the ink just transfer to your windows, leaving black or colored streaks?
You can find instructions on how to do this on the internet, just like you can find almost anything else. To get step by step instructions to try it yourself, go here. If you do try it, please let me know. I will update this post and try it myself. We have two sliding glass doors on our apartment...to be frank we could use all the help we can get!
Newspaper is one of those unusual materials that can be used for so many reasons. First of all, obviously, you can read it. How many of use have memories from childhood of a parent, most likely Dad, sitting at the table on a weekend morning, sipping coffee?
Okay, so that may sound very 1950's. Yet that's how I grew up: coming down to breakfast to find Dad drinking black coffee (ew!) and reading the Seattle Times. After reading the paper cover to cover, Dad would break out a pen or pencil and start on the crossword. He's brilliant. He can do the whole thing in about 15 minutes, maybe a bit longer. Heck, I'm lucky if I can answer just one clue! Ads would be in a separate pile, and on Sunday the comics would be in their own little corner. My brother and I would fight over first dibs. As an adult, all I want from the paper is the comics...and occasionally a good "Dear Abby" article.
Most people today get their news from the internet, on their phones, or by watching television. Newspapers are becoming a thing of the past. Rumors abound that they may go 100% obsolete. I hope not. Sunday comics are a tradition I very much cherish. I have also written for a paper before. It's a high stress task, but also so much fun! Yes, it was my college's newspaper for which I wrote for two to three years. I would love to share the articles with you! However, I cannot seem to find them archived online. If you ever come across any editions of the Carroll College Prospector from 2009 to 2011, please let me know.
Newspapers can be so much more than just for reading. Many of us who have ever packed up every belonging we own and traveled from one domicile to the other would understand the need for padding when you move. Whenever I have moved, stacks of newspaper have been my friends when I need to cushion dishes or other fragile items.
Nowadays you can find other uses for newspaper online. Have you ever heard of a material called pykrete? It's a mixture of frozen water and wood pulp. Kind of like a frozen particle board. It's tough stuff.
So what does pykrete have to do with newspaper? Wood pulp, like newspaper, ultimately comes from trees. You can actually use newspaper to create a kind of pykrete. This may seem like a ludicrous idea, but it has been done.
The Discovery Channel hosts a show called "MythBusters." Those who know me well have heard about ti before: it's a great show! Anyway, there is a myth floating around that in World War II the U.S. Navy wanted to build a fleet of pykrete air craft carriers, attributing the idea to pykrete's slow melt rate, bulletproof qualities, and readily available materials (by this point in the war, steel was in very short supply). Now we never built any naval fleets with the stuff because the war ended, but the idea remained: could you actually build a boat with pykrete? The main hosts of the show, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, set out to Alaska to find out.
While they did discover that pykere is indeed stronger than ice and melts slower, they also toyed with the idea of using newspaper instead of wood pulp. The newspaper proved to be much stronger than the wood pulp and they did build a boat out of the material:
Sadly, I cannot find a free link to show you the episode. I own 95% of all MythBusters episodes through iTunes, so I don't go looking for a freebie. Do go watch the show. It's awesome. And they blow stuff up all the time. I guarantee I will be mentioning MythBusters again in this blog.
Newspaper is perfect for paper mache projects. It can be shredded and used as liner or bedding for certain small mammals. Fish get wrapped in it all the time (yuck...I'm allergic to fish).
Perhaps the biggest use for newspaper outside of just READING it would be recycling. Newspaper is generally 100% recyclable. By recycling your newspaper, you are providing material to make more newspaper, recycled paper, paper products, paper towel, etc. The more you recycle, the fewer trees we have to chop down to make more. The fewer trees we cut down, the less pollution we have and the happier our planet will be. Remember a green planet is a happy planet, so let's all do our part. I wish I could recycle...our apartment does not have a recycle program.
So can newspaper clean windows? Give it a try and let me know. When I can try it myself, I will let you know!
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