Papercrete is basically industrial-strength papier-mâché that you can shape or saw, or drill holes into or drive nails through. Moreover, it has excellent insulation properties; these pots keep soil considerably cooler than plastic or ceramic pots do.
Papercrete was developed and patented in the 1920s by Mike McCain and Eric Patterson, a painter from New Mexico in the US, who was looking for a way to utilise the waste paper in his studio. Independently, they both mixed paper pulp with cement and came up with a lightweight yet durable product which sadly had no success as a building material – but eventually became popular in the making of pots and garden ornaments.
PAPERCRETE: THE FORMULA
• 3 parts paper pulp• 2 parts cement• 1 part perlite – see “What is perlite?” on page 105
