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Post by SweetieBugs on Jan 22, 2021 21:56:35 GMT
Due to not staying on top of documents that need to be shredded, I have around 3 feet or possibly more of documents that need to be shredded. This is an accumulation of probably 8 years or so of documents as well as a lot of work documents that I print at home but need to shred because of sensitive data. I don't think I'll need a super heavy duty shredder once I get on top of the backlog but know if I want to shred this all myself, I'll need a really good shredder and will have to be patient doing only some at a time to not overhead the motor.
I'm wondering if it makes more sense to check into a shredding service where you drop off your stuff (or they pick it up)? Have you tried something like that? I would want something where you can physically see the boxes dumped into the shredder. Just one of the many things I need to get under control to tidy the house and get control of my life (one of probably a 250 item list right now  ).
Just wondering if anyone is as out of control with "sensitive documents" overload as I am.
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johnnysmom
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,682
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:33 GMT
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Post by johnnysmom on Jan 22, 2021 22:01:58 GMT
Any chance you have a fireplace or fire pit? That would be cheapest and easiest way (though you wouldn’t want to do it all at once, that’s be a lot of smoke and ash).
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Post by busy on Jan 22, 2021 22:05:21 GMT
I'd do a secure shredding service. It's a matter of minutes vs hours to shred yourself.
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scrappinwithoutpeas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,945 
Location: Northern Virginia
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Post by scrappinwithoutpeas on Jan 22, 2021 22:07:13 GMT
My suggestion is to check your community website(s) to see if there is a local government sponsored "shredding event". It's much simpler than either of the two options in your poll. That is what we do as a compromise (DH's choice). I was advocating for us to just buy a shredder and do it ourselves, but DH prefers the other method. If we didn't have community shredding access, we'd take it to a shredding service ourselves. I didn't vote because I advocated for one but what we actually do is the other, LOL. Wouldn't help your stats.  |
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Post by Jenny in TX on Jan 22, 2021 22:08:47 GMT
Not sure where you live, but where we live our local recycling center has free shredding for residents. You pull up and they come take everything out of your car and you watch them take it straight to the shredder and shred it. There is also a local park in the city next to us that hosts a truck once a month where you can take stuff. All of it is free. You may check and see if you have anything like that close to you.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jan 22, 2021 22:15:50 GMT
Our area also has drop off shredding service through our recycling - but as some of them are work related, doesn't your company have a shredding service? My companies always preferred we shred work related documents through them.
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Post by busy on Jan 22, 2021 22:20:15 GMT
The community shredding events we have around here have limits on what they'll take... and a 3 foot stack from one household would exceed the max  |
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Post by 950nancy on Jan 22, 2021 22:20:34 GMT
I tried getting rid of documents in the fireplace. I would not recommend it. It charred edges and some burned, but I was not successful
I have a 5 paper shredder that I use once a year. The bin fills up quickly, so I set it on my larger trash can and I don't need to empty very often. If I take a stack of papers and feed them through slowly (just a few pages at once), I can get it done in 30-40 minutes. I like having a shredder. Our recycling does not accept shredded paper.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 30, 2024 19:00:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2021 22:30:13 GMT
Check your local Staples or office supply store. Some will take your stuff, weigh it, and charge you per pound. I think Staples is something like 20 cents per pound.
Some recycling centers have shredding services.
We have an annual event for electronics recycling where they will collect styrofoam and have a shredding truck on hand. The fee was a couple canned food for the food bank.
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Post by hop2 on Jan 22, 2021 22:54:57 GMT
Any chance you have a fireplace or fire pit? That would be cheapest and easiest way (though you wouldn’t want to do it all at once, that’s be a lot of smoke and ash). I most certainly miss the burning barrel I grew up with. Darn that was SO handy. |
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Post by wallyagain on Jan 22, 2021 23:00:37 GMT
Luckily, we just send it to DH’s work, they shred regularly.
In the past, we’ve taken it to a shredder here, a large bin was $25. Easy peasy.
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Post by chaosisapony on Jan 22, 2021 23:00:58 GMT
I would buy a shredder and just spend 10 minutes a day shredding. It'll get done before you know it and you will have the shredder to stay on top of new documents.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jan 22, 2021 23:06:10 GMT
I would check the cost on a service. If it isn’t too much I would go with that. I had a stack that was much less than that and it was a pain with having to empty the container, things getting stuck, etc.
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Jili
Pearl Clutcher
SLPea
Posts: 4,363
Jun 26, 2014 1:26:48 GMT
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Post by Jili on Jan 22, 2021 23:07:19 GMT
We have a shredder and I try to keep up with things. With that said, a local organization/ training center for adults with disabilities offers a document destruction service, and I have used it. They charge a fee but it’s minuscule (like $5 for a standard file box). I was happy to give someone a chance to do this job. Maybe your community offers something like this?
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Post by dewryce on Jan 22, 2021 23:09:58 GMT
I would buy a shredder and just spend 10 minutes a day shredding. It'll get done before you know it and you will have the shredder to stay on top of new documents.This is my thought as well. Even if you end up having it shredded, and I would check with work, you need to buy one to avoid this in the future. Buy the strips/sheets that oil it as well. They recommend using them every time you empty the bin, but I probably do it every other time or so. And consider the time it may take to drive to wherever you’re getting it shredded. When I have a large (for me) stack I just place it right by the shredder and each time I get up from my desk I run a couple of stacks through. That way the shredder doesn’t get too hot and I don’t get annoyed doing so much at once  |
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Post by busy on Jan 22, 2021 23:12:11 GMT
I would buy a shredder and just spend 10 minutes a day shredding. It'll get done before you know it and you will have the shredder to stay on top of new documents. Get a shredder and keep up going forward. It will take little effort. But outsource this backlog. Remove that giant stack of clutter from your life in one fell swoop. |
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Post by misadventurous on Jan 22, 2021 23:23:45 GMT
Check your local Staples or office supply store. Some will take your stuff, weigh it, and charge you per pound. I think Staples is something like 20 cents per pound. Some recycling centers have shredding services. We have an annual event for electronics recycling where they will collect styrofoam and have a shredding truck on hand. The fee was a couple canned food for the food bank. Postal Annex is another option that offers shredding of sensitive documents. If you have a backlog and a bunch of other tasks that you need to do... delegate, delegate, delegate everything you possibly can! |
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StephDRebel
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,668
Location: Ohio
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Post by StephDRebel on Jan 23, 2021 0:25:48 GMT
do you have access to an 8 year old? my neighbors son comes over on thursdays to shred all of my things in the garage. He thinks its the funnest thing in the world (and has clearly been stuck at home with his brothers too long ) |
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Post by MichyM on Jan 23, 2021 1:17:41 GMT
I would buy a shredder and just spend 10 minutes a day shredding. It'll get done before you know it and you will have the shredder to stay on top of new documents. Get a shredder and keep up going forward. It will take little effort. But outsource this backlog. Remove that giant stack of clutter from your life in one fell swoop. Exactly that. I totally vote for you to buy a good quality paper shredder. My mom died 9 years ago and I kept hers, so it’s got to be a good 15 years old. It can shred up to 8 pages at a time. Even when I’ve gotten behind I’ve just committed myself to a couple of minutes for a few days until I’m caught up. With your pile, you could drop it off or just zen out and listen to music or a podcast, or even watch TV while doing it yourself. it’s so handy to have it right next to my desk and just pop in a few pages here and there as needed. |
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Post by jenjie on Jan 23, 2021 12:24:43 GMT
do you have access to an 8 year old? my neighbors son comes over on thursdays to shred all of my things in the garage. He thinks its the funnest thing in the world (and has clearly been stuck at home with his brothers too long ) My vote for best answer! Love this! Give him a few dollars and a few cookies each session and everyone is happy. Including his mom, because she gets a break. And your pets if you have them, because he will likely give them some attention. |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 30, 2024 19:00:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2021 12:41:33 GMT
I would buy a shredder and do it yourself especially when you have sensitive papers to shred. Start by doing some for say 15/30 minutes each day. You'll soon get all of it done then you have the shredder there for a weekly shredding schedule to keep on top of it going forward. It will be cheaper over time.
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Post by Lexica on Jan 23, 2021 13:05:27 GMT
I would go ahead and buy a decent shredder. Get a cross-cut style since they make it pretty much impossible to recreate a document. Just set out a bit to do a little each day until the pile is gone. Since you can use a shredder for the rest of your life, it makes sense to go ahead and get one for things like monthly paperwork and old files that are no longer required.
If you choose to, you can use the paper shreds to make things. There is paper mâché, of course, or here are two ways I used it up:
I have a worm bin in my backyard. I take a couple of handfuls of the paper shreds, soak them in water, and use them to cover vegetable scraps in the bin. Covering the worm's food with paper keeps the pesky little flies out of it. The worms eat all of the damp paper pretty quickly too so it must taste good to them. You can purchase coir to cover their food, but why bother when you have free paper scraps.
When my son lived with me, he used love to make fire starter cubes to take camping with us. My dad did a lot of woodwork and would save the sawdust for him. He would mix the paper shreds and sawdust with a little melted wax to make fire starter cubes.
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Post by mollycoddle on Jan 23, 2021 13:41:13 GMT
A shredding service. I spent a considerable amount of time recently shredding a much smaller pile. Never again.
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Post by SweetieBugs on Jan 23, 2021 16:38:36 GMT
Any chance you have a fireplace or fire pit? That would be cheapest and easiest way (though you wouldn’t want to do it all at once, that’s be a lot of smoke and ash). Outside burning is illegal and while I have a fireplace I never use it. |
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Post by SweetieBugs on Jan 23, 2021 16:44:39 GMT
It's Nice that so many of you have found a free service to do your shredding. I did a little research yesterday and couldn't find anything like that in my community but I will keep checking.
For those that are doing their own shredding, what do you do about all of the "paper dust"? That stuff gets in my eyes and irritates my nose and throat for the rest of the day so if I get a shredder, I would only use it out on the back patio. I would just have to wait for a nice day and just pop in and out of the patio areadoing a few handfuls at a time. Luckily, there is an electrical outlet post out there.
I'll keep looking for a free or low cost shredding service first to get rid of what I have.
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Post by redshoes on Jan 23, 2021 16:49:33 GMT
It's Nice that so many of you have found a free service to do your shredding. I did a little research yesterday and couldn't find anything like that in my community but I will keep checking.
For those that are doing their own shredding, what do you do about all of the "paper dust"? That stuff gets in my eyes and irritates my nose and throat for the rest of the day so if I get a shredder, I would only use it out on the back patio. I would just have to wait for a nice day and just pop in and out of the patio areadoing a few handfuls at a time. Luckily, there is an electrical outlet post out there.
I'll keep looking for a free or low cost shredding service first to get rid of what I have. Might be worth a try for a small stack, but my gardening group suggests wetting/soaking paper/cardboard and tearing into smaller pieces for compost. You could try it and see how easy it is to tear once wet and then discard the pieces in different trash bags. I soaked cardboard egg cartons for just a couple of minutes and it was very easy to tear, so you might try it! |
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Post by katlady on Jan 23, 2021 17:28:00 GMT
We do our own shredding. The most I ever had was three grocery bags full. That was a lot! But it didn’t really take long. Some times I had to wait for the shredder to cool down. Lol! I’ve never noticed “dust” when I shred. The messy part for me is emptying the bin when it is full. I get little pieces all over the floor.
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Post by rymeswithpurple on Jan 23, 2021 17:58:52 GMT
do you have access to an 8 year old? my neighbors son comes over on thursdays to shred all of my things in the garage. He thinks its the funnest thing in the world (and has clearly been stuck at home with his brothers too long ) My 30 year old husband feels the same way when he gets to shred stuff. (I'm pretty sure I hear a maniacal laugh every time he feeds something into it.) |
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tincin
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,370
Jul 25, 2014 4:55:32 GMT
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Post by tincin on Jan 23, 2021 18:54:45 GMT
If I didn’t have a shredder I’d buy one. That would allow me to stay on top of things once I finished shredding this pile. Got any kids? Pay one of them $5 to shred it for you.
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Post by nlwilkins on Jan 23, 2021 19:59:19 GMT
I keep a trash bag in the shredder so I don't have to dump it - just pull up the bag and tie it when full. If you watch television, keep the shredder by your chair and shred through the commercials.
Question - if you take your papers somewhere for someone else to shred, how is that safer than throwing them out on trash day? Do you get to watch the papers being shredded?
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