Thursday 24 January 2013

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?

17 comments:

  1. Would it work in the Rayburn? Sounds a good move. Do you have a link?

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  2. Oh you are so lucky to have a fire. Something that is banned in London

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  3. Hi Janice - they look effective ... two more thoughts ... one shredding it all for the horseyard - if there's one nearby ... or using your logsaver in the summer and put them under the bonfire ...

    I must say I might pop up and sit by the fire though ... looks just wonderful .. and I hope all things are going to plan - cheers Hilary

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  4. Great idea, one of those things I wish I'd thought of.

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  5. How satisfying to watch all that junk mail going up in smoke!

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  6. Fantastic idea.

    Lovely to get rid of all the rubbish mail and to get heat from it!!!

    Hope all is well with you and your family.

    Have a nice weekend

    x Fiona

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  7. What a great idea! What a clever person to have invented such a thing. And I love the look of your fire!

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  8. I saw this advertised somewhere and wondered how it worked. I'm so glad it does a good job.

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  9. Sounds great. I'm sure you can store up the paper for next winter - with this cold snap our heating is on all the time.

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  10. Clever idea! I'll have to pass this on to a friend of mine as she has a log burner.

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  11. See sometimes junkmail is useful ! I have never seen such a thing ! It's a real great invention. I have a sticker on our letter box, "No Publicity" so our mail is limited to invoices, which unfortunately have first to be payed and then maybe transformed into logs.
    We also don't get Telephone directories anymore. It's on Internet. Unfortunately I don't know what people do when they are looking for a number and don't have internet. They probably have to call and ask for the number.

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  12. I wondered what those looked like! I've seen the packages on shelves, but never seen what was inside!

    I just worry about the toxic nature of the inks on printed matter. Surely it's not good for the environment? I know they stink when you burn magazines.

    Perhaps I'm being oversensitive since I'm an asthmatic with a hair-trigger cough reflex!

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  13. What a simple and brilliant idea. I like it. Now all I need is the fireplace!

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  14. I hand't thought about the inks. I do know that newsprint can be used in emergency childbirth so I suppose I assumed it to be reasonably non-toxic . . . though maybe not when it's burnt.

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