How do you recycle paper with personal data on it?

[Stinky The Clown]

How do you recycle your bills? Your bank statements. That sort of thing.

I have a few choices. I can take it to the dump and place it into the paper recycling bin. I can leave it curbside for the weekly recycling collection. I can save it in boxes in my basement. I can treat it as garbage and simply throw it away.

So far, I tend to save it in boxes in the basement. A few years ago we brought records going back to before Moby Dick was a minnow to the recycling station at the dump. We currently have records back to 1998 .... in boxes in the basement. Most of the records are still current in terms of account numbers, etc.

What do you do with this kind of crap?

[ccinamon]

1. I used to burn it in the fireplace...

the fumes of the carbonless checks would get pretty bad!! Now I shred it (cross-cut shredder) and toss in the recycling bin.

[yy4me]

2. We have a store not far from us that will allow you to buy their

shredding service. They give you a bin to fill with the material to be shredded and -in front of you, place the material in huge shredders for destruction. I'm not sure what or how they charge you but it is worth whatever it costs. We went through the -burn in the fireplace- routine a few years ago and it was a very time consuming job. piles of old checks and stuff like that took forever. We had pulled out all the records of no value regarding identity theft and put that in with the stinky -to the dump stuff. I have to do the job sometime soon with records from about 1990 that sit by year in a carton in the attic. I will use the shredding service.

[Warpy]

3. Anything with the SSN or a bank number on it

plus all come ons for loans and credit cards go right into the shredder.

I used to rip them and put the pieces into different trash receptacles before I got the shredder.

[Phentex]

21. I have torn them and then cleaned out the refrigerator

and dumped in stuff on top to make the whole thing a nasty mess. But I try not to let things go bad in the fridge AND I try to shred before I get desperate. :)

[AlCzervik]

4. shredder, once a year i shred the bank statments and every 3 months i shred

the credit card statements. I do this every few months so i can do it at home so i can take care of it myself instead of using a service.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

5. Sure shredder

And it's clean recycle material.
Once you buy one,you will develop a systematic way about doing it! And I'll tell you something else, junk mail actually serves a purpose when it goes into the mix! Maybe that's why one will have such a good feeling about the clean shredded recyclables ,yep, junk mail serves a purpose!
Straight into the shredder, mix right in with all that, by by junk mail!
In you go! Such joy!

[AlCzervik]

6. i also use the shredding material for packaging instead of packing peanuts

that stuff is great when you send something as i do all the way to the east coast.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

11. Thats creative thinking ~!

So noted! Now I don't have to save bubble wrap! Excellent idea.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. How dumb am I?

We have **two** shredders. One we bought and one from my Mom's house when we cleaned that out. For whatever reason, we don't shred the bills as they get paid. Or the bank statements. Or anything else. Until the sheer volume of it is overwhelming (as it is now). I was hoping, in this post, to hear some magic thing that someone else does to make the whole mess go away.

Maybe I can coerce SparklyJr into doing it for $25 for each year's records ............

[AlCzervik]

8. that's really the key to the shredder, you need to break it down into manageable piles of

paper and then go at it, my daughter loves to shred stuff so i hand it over to her and she has a grand old time and again the shreds make great packaging material.

[NMDemDist2]

10. or there are professional shredding companies. they charge so much per pound

check your yellow pages.

[Stinky The Clown]

12. The only ones in my area are the mobile type

I imagine (don't know for sure) they charge a lot extra for the convenience. Plus, I don't wanna put a big truck on the road just cuz I'm too lazy to shred them myself. Kinda the same reason we **never** order pizza delivery.

[sandnsea]

13. Then use the shredded paper for packing

I received some breakable or other packed in shredded paper. Amazing. It worked every bit as good as peanuts. A shredder is on my list for that exact purpose.

[yy4me]

9. Meant to mention to you, if you get a shredder, they do heat up

and burn out or the cutting wheels jam. I never knew that you were supposed to use oil or oil impregnated sheets every so often in a shredder. Ours has really bent out of shape middle 3 cutters because it got hot and jammed the paper, causing the wheels to bend. Now I have to manually dig out the jammed paper. A new one isn't in the budget now so I use this as it is. I know it will give up one of these days.

There were no instructions with this machine when we bought it that mentioned oiling. It is a Sentinel model and does a great job...at least it did.

I now know that you can get the oil papers at Staples or buy a fine oil and draw a fairly heavy line across a sheet of paper and feed it through. This is from the clerk at Staples.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. I just drizzle a light oil into the cutting slot and then feed paper to 'dry' it off.

That seems to work okay.

[Phentex]

15. I shred and then recycle. We have to separate it for pick up...

It has to be tied so as not to mix with the other stuff. It's amazing how much will cram into one bag! I also learned to do a little at a time or the shredder would just stop itself from burning out.

[eleny]

16. We recently opted for online statements where available

The info was available online all the time anyway. Now we have several less pieces of paper to deal with.

Meantime, anything personal gets shredded (and goes to the charitable recycle bin). Looks like you have that one covered.

[trud]

25. careful of online statements

Some places only keep them available for 1-2 years, so anything you need permanently, copy to your pc and backup.

[dropkickpa]

17. Shred it then use as guinea pig bedding

anyone who digs through chewed up urine soaked scraps is welcome to my awful credit.

[japple]

18. Usually burn it in the back yard, however this area has been

in a drought situation for the past 2-3 years and a burning ban is in effect. So, I've been saving extra sensitive stuff (bank & credit card statements, etc.) to burn whenever the ban is lifted. Other, less sensitive stuff gets ripped up and thrown in the garbage into which I always make sure to put a couple dumpings from my cat litter box and some raw chicken skin. I don't think anyone could get past that smell.

[morningglory]

19. Makes good compost. nt

[Kolesar]

27. Yes, a high carbon material to balance the high nitrogen food scraps and coffee grounds

And is soaks up the liquids in our compost pail.

[Warpy]

20. Packing material when I mail Xmas presents

Other than that, it goes into a bag for recycling.

On edit: shredded, of course.

[Paper Roses]

22. Our local 'Council on Aging' has a special day for shredding.

If you have this organization(or any other Senior organization) in your town, I'd call and ask if they offer this service. I have not used them but I know here the service is free.

I burned out the motor of our home shredder trying to chew up some old papers. Used the fireplace after that disaster. It was time consuming but did the job. I went through the stuff first to make sure it wasn't really a candidate for shredding. Burned just the important stuff.

[hippywife]

23. Using this stuff as packing material is not a good idea.

These kinds of documents should be put through a cross cut shredder that shreds them into tiny pieces rather than long strips. The long strips are still too easy for someone to match up and put together.

:hi:

[trud]

26. piutting shredded stuff together

I have passwords on all my financial accounts that let you do that. So even the numbers and name will not get anyone access to those.

[trud]

24. $25 shredder from Staples.

I keep it next to where I process mail. Anything that is sensitive goes into the shredder, no having it pile up for months. Then when the shredder basket is full, I just dump it into the paper curbside recycling bin.

Here's a trick for fixing a jammed shredder. Pour a small amount of water into the paper input area. Wait a half hour or so, and the machine should be able to handle the softened paper.

[NMDemDist2]

28. +1 n/t

[Warpy]

29. My daily service bank has changed owners four times

since I've been here, so I've sent all the old stuff with old bank names to the dump. People would have to know the "begats" of the bank branch I go to in order to figure out what bank the account number belongs to and most thieves just aint that smart.

My shredder gets the ID data at the top of old tax returns. The dump gets records from defunct brokerage accounts. My shredder gets current checkbook deposit slips. My account number isn't on the check carbons, so they go to the dump.

I'm trying to restrict my records to 5 years. So far, I've pared it down to 6.

[dgibby]

30. Shredder, then to the compost bin to be used for "lasagna"

gardening, along with leaves, coffee grounds, grass clippings. Beats having to till up a garden plot. If you have a worm farm for compost, they love the stuff!

[Warpy]

31. I tear off anything with name and SSN or bank account number

shred that part and recycle the rest. Bank statements are the worst, they insist on repeating the name and account number on each section. I pretty much need to shred the whole stupid thing.

I wish recycling would take bags of shredded paper instead of whole paper.

[Denninmi]

32. Through the shredder, then out for poultry bedding.

Trust me, no one will go piecing it back together after THAT. Final destination is the compost pile.

Paper shreds make great chicken bedding and nest box filler.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

33. About composting shredded stuff.

Do not compost any glossy paper. Not good for garden, will not break down like you'd think.

Of course no disk shreddings (DVD's CD's). Use these for drainage at the bottom of your potted plants.
Like you used rocks, pebbles, etc., above the hole in the pot. Careful they may have sharp edges.

Use shredded paper as a weed barrier. Remove some soil, place one to two inches of shred on the ground
cover with five to six inches of good growing soil. Remember most inks used today are soy based.
If you have any reaction to soy don't use in a veggie garden. Better safe than sorry.
Year long composting should be ok, depending on the amount of paper in compost.

[yellerpup]

34. We shred.

Tons and tons of crap - everything with either one of our names, address, or any personal information it. It helps to shred the new stuff (unsolicited credit offers, etc.) every day. Otherwise, we keep records for seven years and when the year rolls over we have a shredding orgy.

[trud]

35. overdoing it?

I don't shred stuff with just my name and address on it, that would mean shredding 99% of incoming mail. Uses a lot of energy for no apparent purpose that I can see.

You should not be getting unsolicited credit offers if you have contacted thebig three credit bureaus and told them not to sell your contact info.

[yellerpup]

36. I rip out the parts with my information and address

and shred the scrap I rip out. I don't shred the whole package/envelope. If it's for a chimney sweep or patio furniture, etc., I just toss it in with the other paper recycling. Identity theft and the grief (time & money) that comes with trying to fix the situation can follow you for a lifetime. To me, it's worth a penny of electricity after mail call every day assure it doesn't happen.

[Kennah]

37. I'm a shredding mad man

Actually, I don't specialize.

Anything with personal data, I shred. Shreddings go into paper bags, stapled shut, and those get recycled.

[Po_d Mainiac]

38. I just flush it

Or are u talking about other personal stuff on paper :hide: