Re-Using Newsprint


The thought of re-using newsprint wasn't something that came to me naturally. For me the cost was low enough, supply easy enough to come by and the city offers a very easy and reasonable recycling program. But, as I often do, I took a class. Tireless comparison of their and my own working practices usually offers a few key revelations. It was here that the idea of simply recycling all that newsprint got called into question 'just let it dry and use it again'. I don't dismiss an idea because I had never done it that way before nor do I embrace an idea because that's 'how its done'.
However I gave it a shot, and the results were disastrous. 
I use straight PVA, straight Methylcellulose, straight wheat paste and a variety of different strength mixes of the three. In the end some combination of moisture and pressure had reactivated the dry adhesive residues and caused the newsprint to be nearly permanently adhered into the book. After hours with a knife and white eraser I was able to get it back to an acceptable place, but I can say next time I wont think twice about using the extra cents worth of news print.     

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