Paper bricks as a fire fuel

[MrNoodly]

Here's a link to a video about some of the easiest ways to make paper bricks. (I like easy.) It's very low-tech and within reach of vehicle dwellers. 



I don't like smoke, but some of you are already cooking and heating with wood fires or wood stoves. Burning recycled scrap paper makes a lot more sense to me than firewood.

 

[Moxadox]

I don't know if it's still relevant, but back when we actually had lots of printed materials, and back when I had a home with a woodstove, and back when I was a practicing pediatrician, I found out that burning a lot of printed materials created a lot of ash that contained the heavy metals that the ink was made with. Side by side comparison with pressure treated lumber came out about the same for lead and mercury. That was way back in the 1990s, haven't revisited the issue, but if things are different now I'd love to know.

The Dire Wolfess

 

[regis101]

Also back in the day, newspaper was an excellent window cleaner.
Then the inks turned soy based and cleaned not as well.

 

[Moxadox]

]That bodes well for burning them though! If they're made of soy, they're probably nontoxic. I hope.

The Dire Wolfess

 

[ckelly78z]

I have access to several bags of shredded office paper (accounting papers ran through the office shredder), every week that I may try a few bricks this Summer. I have been burning wood for 25 years now, and usually have plenty of free Ash wood that have been killed by the emerald ash beetle in years past.

I might get a few buckets, and bring a bag, or two home to experiment with different designs, and mixtures.

 

[Cammalu]

I remember little newspaper log rollers that would roll them really tight. I’d imagine that Amazon has a few different ones.

 

[bullfrog]

I tried this years ago and found it was easier and less time consuming to pay for or cut wood but most of the wood I burned was free. I also used coal and waste oil as I had free sources of those as well. The slick paper was a pain to deal with as it took more time and effort to get to disolve into a slurry. When I was a camphost people would leave so much wood and charcoal over the season I ran out of storage places and gave probably gave away close to a cord of wood each year and several totes of charcoal. If you need fuel just volunteer to help clean up a campground, you'll probably do better!

 

[highdesertranger]

I could tell you what else that slick paper is no good for. o never mind. highdesertranger

 

[Moxadox]

I could tell you what else that slick paper is no good for. o never mind. highdesertranger

That's why they made corn cobs. Plus which, they also burn.

The Dire Wolfess

 

[maki2]

I don't know if it's still relevant, but back when we actually had lots of printed materials, and back when I had a home with a woodstove, and back when I was a practicing pediatrician, I found out that burning a lot of printed materials created a lot of ash that contained the heavy metals that the ink was made with.  Side by side comparison with pressure treated lumber came out about the same for lead and mercury.  That was way back in the 1990s, haven't revisited the issue, but if things are different now I'd love to know.

The Dire Wolfess

The ink industry has moved away from using heavy metals. That big shift happened about 1990. But some glossy paper commercial printing still used that type of ink for some years afterwards. But companies really don't want trouble with the EPA and local state health organizations or lawsuits from employees who might get ill so there was a big incentive to make the switch. Of course the need for less toxicity led the makers of the inks to create non toxic inks if they wanted to have customers for their products. Plant based inks cost less than toxic metal inks. A win/win for all.

 

[maki2]

As most Van dwellers avoid being consumers because of restrictions of weight, space and quite often income they don't have all the paper waste that many households generate. Even the van dwellers who are self employed using computers are pretty much doing it all paperless. If you use mail forwarding then you are not getting big piles of junk mail. You don't subscribe to a physical copy of newspapers, likely not to physical magazines either.

If you are boon docking in the desert you likely won't want to carry all the water needed to make a small amount of paper bricks. Most van dwellers are not using wood stoves for heat. In many areas there are burn bans on during the summer time. You would not want to use paper for a cooking fuel due to the amount of flying ash it produces.

In the long term the small quantity of paper bricks a van dweller would be able to make with the materials they would typically have on hand would not be worthwhile doing. It takes too much time, too much storage space for the system and materials and too much labor to produce a very small amount of fuel.

It is of course fun to play around with such concepts and experiment with various methods but that is more of a hobby activity playing inventor and scientist rather than being a practical solution for fuel for a person who lives on the road in a small vehicle.

 

[Weight]

We used burn dime novels. Just use them as hunks of wood. (paper back books.) Cheap as can be.

 

[XERTYX]

I actually think that's a terrific idea using the caulking gun to compress the "log" it would be really useful as a fire starter at least. Probably not a replacement for wood in a stove. I was surprised at the temperature as well as the burn time he got but squirting goo gone or acetone on to start a fire then saying now that's a cooking fire. No. Haha. Goo gone I'm sure doesnt taste great on scrambled eggs. Let alone it cant be good for you. And acetone is a carcinogen. But hey. The project is nifty. A great way to get rid of paper if you have it and the water.

 

[ckelly78z]

Rather than shredding, and soaking the paper I get (mostly discarded office paper), I roll it tightly on top of masking tape to hold it together in a nice roll. I then take some heavy, bendable wire , and form two loops around each end of the 4" thick roll, and twist until tight. The wire keeps the roll together in the fire while it burns, and doesn't really create much more ash than a solid log of wood. I mix the paper rolls into my wood fire for extended warmth this time of year.

This is far less hassle, waste, and mess for the water conscious.