Recycling junk mail

Junk mail gift bag shreds (public domain photo)

Why not make good use of junk mail by recycling or re-purposing it? We all hate it. We all get tons of it annually. Why waste an opportunity by throwing it directly in the trash? There are some interesting things you can do with junk mail. Here's a few simple ways you can recycle or re-purpose junk mail without cluttering up your home.

Let the kids play with the fake credit cards.

These come with those annoying credit card offers. They're quite realistic, at least in the eyes of a young child. Kids can use them at their pretend grocery store. Or, they can put them in a purse or wallet to feel more grown up. My younger grand-kids get happy when I open those credit card offers and hand them one.

Light your fire.

You know you want to burn that crap up. Why not use it as a fire starter for your back yard fire-pit or grill? You were going to light the fire anyway. Why not at least do it non-chemically? This works great if you have no shredder and have a lot of those credit card offers. Did you know there's a scam where people steal them out of your mail, write in a new address and attempt to obtain a credit card in your name? If you burn it up or shred it they can't.

Make gift bag filler.

If you do have a shredder, you can turn all that junk mail into gift bag filler. Just shred it up. It costs nothing. Free is much better than the price they charge for colored shreds at the party store, isn't it? You can also use those shreds to pack breakables for moving or mailing. Do be sure to shred it first for security reasons.

Make more paper.

Shred it. Mix it with water until it becomes a pulpy mess. Spread out the goop thinly, on a flat surface or screen. Let it dry completely. Peel it off. Presto! You just made your own paper. You can do this with newspaper too.

Up-cycle this tip: Mix seeds with your paper for easy planting. Just bury the whole sheet about an inch deep in a pot filled with potting soil.