Comments on: Cheap and Green Insulation: Recycled Paper Cellulose

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:56:29 +0000

We went “green” and used the recycled paper insulation — cheaper and better for the environment. Win, win, right? —-Not so fast……basically we blew small pieces of trash into our attic. Guess what, now we have the most horrible dust problem ever. Our home is 25 years old with all new windows, doors and you guessed it insulation. Problem is, you put trash out, you get trash in!!!!!!!! This is the worst home “improvement” decision we have ever made. Now, I’m trying to find out who can get all of this “no longer tightly packed” trash out of the attic. My allergies are going wild and you can write your name on the furniture every 3-4 days after dusting. We are airtight with a load of garbage in the attic. The dust is prettier you can see the paper color particles in it. If you don’t mind “pretty” dust, then go for it. My advice: DON’T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I imagine that if I could afford to hire a housekeeper to keep up with the dusting, it would cost 10 times more than the minimal efficiency savings. It has been very minimal.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:14:08 +0000

You can look at the new WEKA Insulation Panel due to be released this fall 2009 that is made from wool . Wool is a renewable material from local sources and the product will have a good LEED rating.

By: mamafessler

mamafessler — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:53:56 +0000

well…we have had a rather unexpected kitchen renovation, and as i am looking for eco friendly options, my husband pointed out that we are already “being green”. We had to gut the entire kitchen and in the ceiling there was some blown insulation and the fiberglass too. So in between our exterior wall and our studded wall we stuffed the blown stuff from the ceiling and even th old fiberglass kind. Plus we put the broken drywall in too. So we actually didnt have to spend too much getting new insulation. Plus kept some of the guts out of a landfill. I am fairly new to being eco friendly…so I am proud of us. I was also looking into led lights for the kitchen!

By: Rhys

Rhys — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:23:51 +0000

Thanks heaps to all who posted, im looking at insulating my house and it’s been a great help

By: Recycled Paper « Cool Construction Stuff

Recycled Paper « Cool Construction Stuff — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:59:46 +0000

[...] http://ryanishungry.com/2007/11/29/cheap-and-green-insulation-recycled-paper-cellulose This is kinda someone elses blog about reclyced paper used as aninsulation product. Not that [...]

By: jay

jay — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:54:09 +0000

I forgot how much we paid (plus a year has passed since this video).
I would call your local hardware store and find the current prices.
Or, just search on the web. Home Depot and Lowes would probably be the best bet.

By: shell

shell — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:47:24 +0000

its 4 a science project and i am doing it on what insulation is most cost effective and efficient i need help!!!

By: shell

shell — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:44:23 +0000

Hey i want to Know how much your cellulose or any other insulations cost per square foot, r13

By: Also...

Also... — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:18:11 +0000

As for the plastic bags that the paper insulation comes in… Until the manufacturers go green with their packaging as well, one use for them would be to use the plastic in the mix, since plastic itself is an insulator. There’s a video on CNN about a guy who converted a shed into a house, living a minimalistic lifestyle — he had an abundance of plastic bags and used the plastic bags as insulation. Just an idea for the meantime until the insulation packaging goes green.

By: ryanne

ryanne — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:04:24 +0000

tbs,
if you were to use something like leaves you would also either soak them or sprinkle them with something like boric acid, which is non-toxic bug repellent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boric_acid

By: tbs

tbs — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:27:10 +0000

All this talk about being green. Anybody think about the potential for bug and insect problems that could arise if you use leaves in your walls ??

By: Randy

Randy — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 18:53:07 +0000

If you are looking for a “green: insulation…my father in law built a huge house insulated with straw. If you seal the insulation it won’t decompose. Actually, his father did the same thing years ago. They had to knock out a wall to build another room. Even though the straw was 20+ years old, it was still golden brown and smelled as fresh as the day they stucko’d it all in. The walls had to be thick enough to incase a bail of straw though (approx 18 inches).

By: Kob

Kob — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:48:57 +0000

Hi guys,

Just wanna let you know that I’m doing LCA with some of my friends for a group project at our university and reference you about the plastic bag. =) At least they should use recyclable plastics.

By: ryanne

ryanne — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:27:20 +0000

i think cloth would last longer than that plastic stuff and be more sturdier than paper. also, depending on the material, it could very well be biodegraded or used again.

By: jay

jay — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:43:17 +0000

That’s a good question. i wonder if the cloth would last over time though. would it decompose and fall apart?

By: Jan / The Faux Press

Jan / The Faux Press — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:23:55 +0000

Could you use cloth rather than plastic to seal the insulation in? You could probably get bolts of old fabric pretty cheap. Now, what fabric would have a tight enough weave to be useful?

By: Big Announcement! We’re Moving to the Mountains…Literally at Ryan Is Hungry

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:14:27 +0000

[...] moving back across the country to the mountains of Virginia. You might remember our video about recycled paper insulation that we were installing at Jay’s dad’s garage in Virginia…well, that’s the [...]

By: Rodrigo

Rodrigo — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:34:41 +0000

hello im from chile
we are very interesting in the insulation of recycled paper becouse help to reduce co2 levels too much, ans is a very economical sistem, in fact the economical proyection in my country and we need know how is the price in your country for the machine to instal that aislant… help me please!!!
greettings from chile the last place in the earth!!!!

By: John Leeke

John Leeke — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:52:24 +0000

>>Jeeze, Everyone talks about renting an insulation blower like they are on every corner!…<<

Well, all you have to do is buy or rent one, it’s just a phone call away, plus writing the check. But then that’s the problem with the capitalist corporateers who control the building products industry. If you adopt their mindset and play their game by using their products then they will grab as much of your money as they can. Having to buy or even rent a machine is the strategy that keeps even a recycled product like cellulose from being truly “green.” The entire industry is very busy “green washing” everything they make and sell in order to capture the “green” market. The market for green ink and green pigment, and green dye is way up, and none of THAT stuff is “green.”

John (black is the new green) Leeke

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:57:26 +0000

Jeeze, Everyone talks about renting an insulation blower like they are on every corner!….I live in los angeles and can’t find ANYONE that rents them….if anyone does know where he mythical beasts can be rented in Los Angeles I would be eternally grateful!!!

michael

By: ryanne

ryanne — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:09:35 +0000

if we really could use old leaves as insulation, i would do it! i guess as long as it doesn’t get wet anything can be used…except you really need to make sure it’s pretty fire retardant, right? dry leaves probably aren’t. but how could you make them? borax?

also, one of my reasons for hand stuffing was because we didn’t have power down there except for a gasoline generator…something i was not excited about.

cheers!
thanks for the great conversation!

By: jay dedman

jay dedman — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:37:21 +0000

You guys bring up some good points.
From what I could tell, the plastic wrapping on the insulation would not have prevented water from getting in. It was really flimsy, full of small holes, and broke if you grabbed it. I bet they use plastic wrap just because it’s normal procedure these days. They could wrap it in heavy paper and do just as well.

John, I had no idea you could insulate with old leaves. Makes sense, but would the leaves/seaweed decompose in the walls? If these simple solutions work, then we should defiitely spread it. It’s cheaper and smarter.

By: John Leeke

John Leeke — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:30:06 +0000

Of course the gasoline and rubber used to haul the cellulose insulation across the countryside is not so GREEN. If you really want GREEN insulation just rent the blower and run the leaves you rake up off the lawn into your walls. Now THAT’S GREEN.

John (turning GREEN) Leeke
http://www.HistoricHomeWorks.com

P.S. Of course, the blower uses electricity that may or may not be GREEN. So, for authentic GREENness you have to skip the blower, then the hand stuffing method would be soooooooooo GREEN. Just make sure the food you eat to power your muscles is GREEN. (please take this seriously, not sarcastically)

We have found 200 year old houses here on the coast of Maine that had seaweed stuffed into the wall for insulation.
JL

By: Elepski

Elepski — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:26:41 +0000

From what i know… soy based plastic is biodegradable… in fact… it may even be edible.. he he he…

By: ryanne

ryanne — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:27:51 +0000

i understand that no insulation can get wet, even fiber glass, or it is useless (though fiber glass might be able to dry better and be used?). the plastic bags that cellulose comes in are flimsy and filled with holes, seems like a poor way to protect this stuff from water. yeah, waxed paper, good idea!! or soy based plastic…is that stuff biodegradable? i think in some cases it is…