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 "Pic-Of-The-Week" Cartload of Homegrown Squash, courtesy of Beekissed |
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"Pic-Of-The-Week" Cartload of Homegrown Squash, courtesy of Beekissed |
Sufficient Self ForumLiving a more Self Sufficient & Sustainable Lifestyle |
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How does that briquette maker work? How big are the briquettes? How long does it take to make a batch of four, and does the paper need to be shredded?
I remember reading an article years ago on making paper logs from newspaper. You soak the paper in a tub of warm water with a little laundry detergent....I think the detergent was important, not soap....and roll it, layer by layer, on a broomstick or similar dowel. Then remove your log and set it to dry while you make another. The hole in the middle created by the dowel allowed for air flow and easier burning of the completed log. I think the detergent was to soften the paper so you could get a tighter wrap with less air space between the pages for a longer burning log.
You could probably do the same with printer/copier paper if you layered it between the larger sheets of newspaper.
I wonder if that briquette maker would also make manure bricks.... 
Wow, one could heat a house for NOTHING but a little time spent here and there....
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I soak the paper for a few days (I have 5 5-gallon buckets on a rotating schedule to make a few logs daily). I roughly rip it up, plop it in the water and let it soak/break down for a few days... you pile in the soaked paper (which by that time is more like pulp) and squeeze out the water. I don't add anything to the water.
I use some of the pallets I got earlier in the spring to stack the paper on for a week or two until they are more dry (in the sun, but protected by plastic sheets so they don't get rained on, then stack them in the woodshed (loosely so air can circulate)
Here's a video of the exact model I have and you can see the size of the bricks compared to his hands... they aren't that big, but they work fine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVGUui9XdgI
Once you get a system down you can make one log in about 20-30 seconds (or 4 if you had a 4-at-once machine). I just take a couple minutes a day to make 3-4 logs, and refill the bucket I used with some water and shredded (edited to add... shredded by hand into chunks, I don't actually use a machine and shred the paper) paper, rotating which bucket I use daily... it's literally less than 5 minutes a day... somedays when I have time I'll make a bunch all at once. You can speed up the paper breaking down by using a paint mixer attachment for an electric drill.
I looked at the rolling machines, but it seemed more labour intensive to me... I think the air hole in the middle might help, I find you can't start a fire with these paper bricks, but once it's hot and burning they do burn well.
Last edited by hwillm1977 (06/06/2010 10:58 am)
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Worm compost is my first thought. Sensitive or not the red wigglers don't care!
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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I bet I can use my cheese molds to make paper bricks for the fire. When there is no cheese being made of course! 
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I love the idea of making your own paper. Maybe you sell it too and make money from your "waste" products! I tried shredded paper in the coops, but found when it got wet it really stuck to everything. I tried it in nest boxes too, but I hated how it'd stick to the eggs.
For plain sheets of paper, we use it to print our own documents on our printer, and we give that paper to the kids for art projects.
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While sitting in the baño contemplate the green life as you crumble it to softness.
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xpc wrote:
While sitting in the baño contemplate the green life as you crumble it to softness.
Remember to remove the staples first tho
Really, that is a great idea and paper would be easier to store for TSHTF than rolls.
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DH's Law Office produces a lot of paper waste, and we have to be careful about keeping any duplicates with errors. I rip in half any mistakes, so we can tell the difference.
We do two things with it:
1) put down in the garden to fight weeds
2) burn in the burn pile
In the "Kitchen" area, I have a big, plastic laundry hamper, that I bought at the grocery superstore on clearance, for paper trash. I also have smaller plastic bins under every office desk, as well as a regular trash can with a garbage bag (keeps it clean), so everybody can separate paper from other trash.
We empty the small into the large when they are full. I bag up the large one to take home, when needed.
We get the local newspaper every day, so our paper recyclables pile up.
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