Junk mail has its uses!

Junk mail has its uses!

Our intrepid postman brings the daily haul of mail, much of it consisting of junk. Added to that are the flyers that are pushed through the letter box each day – advertisements for take-away meals, taxi companies, window cleaners, gardening, ironing, oven cleaning – you name it, somewhere there’s someone offering services you might never have realised you needed. Then there are the many catalogues that arrive in droves – glossy, brightly-coloured, all appealing to the acquisitive spirit that lurks beneath the surface of so many of us.

Some of this dross can be burnt with the garden rubbish, (check which way the wind is blowing if you don’t want to be billed for relaundering the washing your neighbours may be attempting to dry in Nature’s tumble dryer!) some may be composted, though too much gives the worms indigestion (I made that up) but I fear much ends up in landfill sites or on a slow boat to China.

We are fortunate in having a log burner – two, actually, that also work on other fuels. Junk mail is useful in the initial ignition of the fires but burns away very quickly, leaving ash that can choke a nascent conflagration. Recently I saw an advertisement for the LogSaver, a device that holds rolled-up paper in a form similar to a natural log. It shows a copy of Yellow Pages (telephone directory) neatly rolled and held firmly in the iron grip of the LogSaver – that in itself was sufficient to stimulate my interest. Telephone directories are heavy, dense and not acceptable at local recycling points, in this area anyway. The advertisement further informed me that the logs thus formed would burn for around one hour and that the device would last for two years. (I must admit that I misread or misunderstood that last point and it was only when I was telling Barry how amazing it was that the logs would last for two years that I realised what I was saying and ended up in a fit of giggles. I’ve had a lot on my mind recently . . . )

Anyway, we thought it sounded like a good idea and accordingly, I sent off for it. It arrived in a neat little box which actually contained two LogSavers.

Note the recycling symbol! 

The papers/brochures have to be rolled quite tightly but once in place there is no escape from the fiery furnace for them.

  Firmly rolled . . .

. . . and ready to go! 

 

 Burning well . . .

. . . and casting a warm and comforting glow.

We are very impressed with them – they will help our logs and coal to go further, the ash can be used to improve the soil in the slurry pit that our garden has become and the volume of material in our recycling boxes has been reduced.

I’m not sure what we shall do in the summer, though . . . save up all the junk until we can have fires again?