During WWII, columbia-presbyterian hospital in NYC ran short of cloth wrappers for wrapping sterile surgical supplies-so they used newsprint. Fast forward to 1985: during some renovations, a cache of sterile instruments was uncovered, wrapped in newsprint and dated during the war years. Some of the packs were taken to the bacteriology lab, swabbed, and cultured: still sterile. Nurse midwives delivering babies in rural homes in Appalachia used to establish a clean-nearly-sterile field for their instruments by laying newsprint on the table and work surfaces. Unfortunately, the print news industry is circling the drain, and we will soon lose access to this useful material.