Just read this tip in the current Mother Earth News magazine: to use shredded paper as ground cover for row vegetables like tomatoes and peppers. The paper will become a sort of weed impenetrable layer of paper-mache, but it does still let through water and the whiteness reflects light back up to the plants which in the case of peppers really helps getting the fruit to ripen in time. Something to try next year!
I've always liked to use grass clippings in my pepper window boxes for similar reasons; it also becomes a thick layer that lets thru water but discourages weeds. It does not really reflect light, but it does release nitrates during composting, which might be just as beneficial. Since our peppers are in window boxes anyway they get more heat and ripen fine, even with our short new york summers.
As a side note, most papers including the Ithaca Journal use biodegradable soy bean based inks which are fine to compost back into the vegetable gardens. If you are not sure of the inks used, ask before composting.
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