I am a beginner too. Everything I have read says those things are fine. Just never ever use those slick sheets you see stuck in the middle of the newspaper. If I am wrong, please someone speak up!

Treat Paperboard the same way you would any other paper or cardboard. If it is printed with a slick surface, don't use it. Otherwise, it is fine.

Best not to use cereal or tissue boxes because of the shiny side. Worms won't eat it well if at all. Simply recycle them the old fashioned way.

Any paper will do... Just shred it in small pieces. Charitycomposter is right. The shiny paper takes much longer to break down. Best to just recycle it.

Thanks for the help, everyone. I finally received my worms last night and got them all setup. I left the lid off the bin and a light over them during the night to keep them from migrating up. This morning they had found their way to the food and looked noticeably plumper after drying out a bit on their journey. I never thought I'd get so excited over worms!

Any slick paper is a no-no. Also be sure to remove any labels or tabs scotch tape attached to such things as bananas, cardboard. I guess office paper is ok but I dont add it. I have added it in the past and found old shredded credit cards and such in the works and had to dig it out . Truth is I forgot about doing that , but the blue of the cards sticks out like a sore thumb.

Just so many other tasty paper products available for the worm bin that I can't see needing to use even my own shredded office paper. Just not as tasty as coffee trays and egg cartons.

I would think the cereal cardboard is treated with preservative as well, which is probably not too good for worms. When a processed food says "no preservative", there's a reason it lasts for so long. Although it may be in the plastic bag the cereal is in and not the box. But then there's the color printing.... Vermicomposting Troubleshooting