How to Make Your Own Paper

Yesterday, I took on the daunting task of cleaning my apartment. My place is small, so in theory, cleaning should be quick and easy. In reality, however, things find a way of piling themselves in hidden corners, carpets get dirty much faster and a small amount of slobbishness (it’s a technical term) can seem downright disgusting in a matter of days.

I’m used to this constant cycle of sparkling clean to pig sty, so I wasn’t surprised when I found a pile of unopened mail and reading assignments from last semester stacked on the corner of a coffee table waiting for me. As I opened my mail, I discovered that my bank had begun sending my husband and me each an identical bank statement — I assume this is so we can each hold a copy of the evidence while we spar over who spent more. In the same pile, I found a 20-page “optional” assignment from one of my editing classes (when will professors learn that “optional” means “nobody will read it”?), a notebook filled with notes that I will never look at again and numerous grocery-store receipts and shopping lists.

The amount of wasted paper that I am linked to every day is phenomenal. Though I recycle as much as I can, I inevitably make mistakes. This week, however, I plan to redeem myself.

I came across a do-it-yourself article from 1993, How to Make Homemade Paper, that made me feel as though my excess paper was a blessing, not a curse. I’m thinking holiday cards, birthday cards and scrap paper all from homemade recycled paper. The process is simple enough, and I’ll put my old notes and assignments to good use. I imagine that tearing them all up will be quite the cathartic experience.

Obviously, I need to do a better job of making sure that paper isn’t wasted on me in the first place. I’ve picked up a tip from The Daily Green. I’ll be moving all of my bill payments online soon, and you can too.