Shredding Documents

[harllee]

I am making myself spend some time each day going through files and boxes and I have a large box of papers to shred so far ( and more to come). I have a small shredder but after 30 or minutes or so it gets overheated and it only takes one page at a time. In the past I have taken large shred jobs to Staples but because we are high risk I am reluctant to do that now. Any suggestions how to get all these papers shredded? Thanks!

 

[target2019]

We bought a 12-sheet cross cut Staples shredder a while back, and use that for larger jobs.

Also keep an older, smaller capacity shredder in my office. It will take 2 or 3 sheets without complaining. But it is not rated for continuous duty.

 

[TrvlBug]

We have a 15 page cross cut shredder that we bought years ago at Costco for ~$100 or so. Also does CDs, stables and supposed to do gummy stuff, but I have not tested the gummy stuff. I love it. It does overheat and you have to give it a break if you're continuously shredding for 20 minutes or so but you can get a lot done in that 20 minutes.

 

[Keim]

Got the capacity to burn instead?

 

[38Chevy454]

Got the capacity to burn instead?

That's what I do. Get a fire going in fireplace and then just feed in the papers. Faster than shredding, but you can't put a real thick bunch in at once. Maybe 10 sheets at a time.

 

[MBAustin]

I would order a sturdier shredder that can do 10 pages at a time or more and take a break every 15 minutes (for your sanity as well as the shredder's motor). We've had ours for close to 10 years so it's a good investment.

 

[cathy63]

There are shredding services that will come to you. A friend of mine recently did this for some old case files she had from her job as a paralegal that were no longer needed. I just texted her and she said she used Iron Mountain, but she had also looked into Office Depot and thought they would also be fine. Maybe one of these companies is available in your area?

 

[NoiseBoy]

My sister's bank offers a free shred day once a year that I try to take advantage up. There's a big Iron Mountain truck in their parking lot and you just drive up and they chuck your stuff into the mega-shredder. Can you poke around to see if something like that is offered in your area?

My challenge with home shredding is that the bin for the shredder fills up quickly and it's a pain to empty without getting shreds of paper all over the place.

 

[pb4uski]

+1 search for shred events near you. I have a growing box of shred documents ready to go when the COVID restrictions are lifted.

 

[Koogie]

It annoys me you can't put shredded paper in the blue box with all the other paper and cardboard.

 

[cathy63]

It annoys me you can't put shredded paper in the blue box with all the other paper and cardboard.

This must vary by location. We can put it in our blue recycling cans, but it has to be in a bag. Paper bags are preferred, but they'll even take it in plastic bags.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

here you can put shredded paper in the green organics bin

 

[pacificlou]

Shredders

Call an local UPS or Office Max store, on various days they have a company that comes and picks up paper from customers to shred, they have one price for watching them shred and another to drop off and leave. Make sure any SS or accounts numbers are removed just in case. It's worth the hassle of sitting at home running papers all day.

 

[Sunset]

I am making myself spend some time each day going through files and boxes and I have a large box of papers to shred so far ( and more to come). I have a small shredder but after 30 or minutes or so it gets overheated and it only takes one page at a time. In the past I have taken large shred jobs to Staples but because we are high risk I am reluctant to do that now. Any suggestions how to get all these papers shredded? Thanks!

Take your time, and let the shredder cool off, maybe do 20 minutes shredding, then rest 20 minutes, and repeat.

After all, the Covid-19 will here for months more....

 

[Jerry1]

We are lucky enough to have a document shredding company near by and they have a shred day on the first Saturday of every month. I assume it was canceled this month. But to your question, I would just store the paper until it can be sent off for shredding at an event or a place like you said, Staples, is open for business. You could also do a no contact run. Have someone you trust pick up a bin off your porch and take it to Staples for you. Bottom line is that there's no way I'd ever go back to shredding at home.

Like I said, I'd just store it for now. This will pass before you'll be overcome with paper.

 

[Spock]

I hired a shredder truck to come to my house before a cross country move. Very expensive.
Understand the the bulk shredders at shredding events and the come to your door trucks shred to about 1in by 2in rectangles... not exactly a cross-cut shred.
I'm looking to retro-fit a chiminea into a document burner by stuffing the exhaust full of balled up chicken wire to stop the large ash from floating away.

 

[harllee]

My sister's bank offers a free shred day once a year that I try to take advantage up. There's a big Iron Mountain truck in their parking lot and you just drive up and they chuck your stuff into the mega-shredder. Can you poke around to see if something like that is offered in your area?

My challenge with home shredding is that the bin for the shredder fills up quickly and it's a pain to empty without getting shreds of paper all over the place.

OP here, my credit union also has shredding days periodically. Of course no more being scheduled now...

 

[harllee]

OP here, lots of good ideas--I will check around and follow up. Thanks

 

[jazz4cash]

+1 search for shred events near you. I have a growing box of shred documents ready to go when the COVID restrictions are lifted.

+1
Our local civic assoc just cancelled the spring shredding event due to social distance policy. Usually there are several others (Navy FCU, local banks, etc.) sponsoring community shredder events around the same time, but I assume they are all cancelled until things resume.

Here is a resource to try:
https://www.shredit.com/en-us/about/shredding-events

 

[rk911]

i bought what was billed as a "commercial/office grade" 24-sheet shredder from one of the office stores about 15-yrs ago. still humming along. we're not home else i'd post the mfg/model info. it wasn't cheap but i was tired of replacing shredders every few years. penny wise/pound foolish.

 

[coveredbridge]

Maybe you can reduce the volume of material to be shredded. When I'm going through documents for shredding, I often find that only a certain part (top third) of the document has personally identifying information that needs shredded. I tear that part off, put it on the shred pile and trash the rest. Cuts volume to be shredded by 2/3.

 

[pb4uski]

+1 I might have a 1" thick insurance policy with a few pages of sensitive information at the beginning and the rest is boilerplate that I recycle rather than shred.

 

[Jerry1]

i bought what was billed as a "commercial/office grade" 24-sheet shredder from one of the office stores about 15-yrs ago. still humming along. we're not home else i'd post the mfg/model info. it wasn't cheap but i was tired of replacing shredders every few years. penny wise/pound foolish.

If I was going to shred at home, I would do exactly what you did. I’ve never been sorry that I’ve bought equipment that might be a bit more than the job might call for.

Maybe you can reduce the volume of material to be shredded. When I'm going through documents for shredding, I often find that only a certain part (top third) of the document has personally identifying information that needs shredded. I tear that part off, put it on the shred pile and trash the rest. Cuts volume to be shredded by 2/3.

-1

To me, this is the main reason I like going to shred day. I don’t have to spend any time sifting through my papers. I toss everything that’s not clearly just recycle into a bin and then on shred day a just dump that bin and I’m done. I do that once or twice a year. We’ve been purging so I’m sure it will be even less going forward.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

I gave up on shredding for privacy concerns. My medical data was compromised with the Tricare hack, my personal data compromised through the OPM hack, my financial data compromised though the equifax hack. My data is out there. I only shred to feed the compost and worms in the garden.

 

[Nemo2]

It annoys me you can't put shredded paper in the blue box with all the other paper and cardboard.

We put ours out with paper/cardboard in blue (transparent) recycle bags - no probs.