There are countless ways to live more sustainably, whether it’s donating old clothing to a thrift store or upcycling a takeout container.
One Redditor shared how they’re living more sustainably with homemade planters made from newspaper.
The scoop
Gardeners can spend a lot of money on pots for their plants, and though some pots are biodegradable, like peat and cow manure pots, they can be pricey. However, a Reddit user posting in the r/homestead subreddit shared their method for saving money they would have otherwise spent on purchasing pots.
Photo Credit: Reddit
Photo Credit: Reddit
They shared a series of three photos showing off pots they had created using old newspaper and wrote: “Newspaper planters for the seedlings that hate transplanting. There was definitely a learning curve in making them.”
While the poster didn’t explain how they created the newspaper pots, a commenter posted a link to a YouTube video with directions on how to make them.
They’re incredibly simple, as all you need is newspaper and a cup or jar to wrap the newspaper around to create the shape.
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Once you’ve created the cup shape for the planter, you fold down the sides and the bottom so it will retain its shape before placing your soil and plants into it for planting.
How it’s helping
It’s a fantastic hack for gardeners, as it utilizes materials many already have lying around the home. By reusing newspaper for plantings, gardeners can save the money they would have spent on pots. Plus, making a simple newspaper pot takes far less time than researching the best commercial pot and finding out where you can purchase it.
Newspaper is also biodegradable, so it shouldn’t harm the soil. Although, as one Reddit commenter pointed out: “Be really careful using any newspaper with color ink. Color newspaper inks have been known to be toxic, but most modern inks have a base of soy or water.”
Additionally, by reusing newspaper, gardeners can keep one more item out of landfills, reducing the waste that is already crowding them and helping to protect our oceans and local environments from pollution.
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What everyone’s saying
Other Redditors were impressed with the hack and also eager to share their own hacks.
“This is the coolest thing I’ve seen all day!” one person exclaimed.
Another Redditor chimed in to share: “From experience, they dry out super quickly, so keep an eye out for that. Otherwise they’re great for transplanting fussy plants!”
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