Recycle those sensitive documents

Recently I purged my files of old bills and credit card statements. I had a huge pile, more than I cared to sit and rip into little pieces. With identity theft on the rise and horror stories of credit card companies accepting taped together applications with address changes I felt less then confident throwing those papers in the garbage. I had let the problem build up for several years and now I needed to do something about it.

I did a little research and found a secure shred business that I could take my pile of papers to for a fee and have them shredded. However when I got there I was less then impressed with their lock bins that they stored papers in until they had enough to shred. For twice the money I could wait for them to shred my papers while I watched. What is too keep people from unlocking the bins? Yes, this is a honor system, but I still felt a twinge of worry. After all according to their policy the papers would be shredded when they had a full bin or twice a month which ever came first. I decided for the price and my own sanity I would go and search out a paper shredder.

I found a great criss cross shredder that will make it virtually impossible for anyone, including me to put papers back together. It decreases the chance of my account numbers falling into the wrong hands. The terrific thing is now I can feel comfortable recycling my papers. You may want to check with your local recyclers as to their regulations with accepting loose scraps. Our local company just asks that we put the papers into a bag and place it in our curb bin. This keeps the papers from blowing away when they dump it in the truck.

Having your own paper shredder is a great way to keep the bills and junk mail under control while recycling those sensitive papers to keep our environment running green.