Getting rid of old paperwork

Could you borrow a shredder from a neighbour or a friend locally?It's the only fast way to deal with it.

Good idea, hopefully someone might have one. Things is, I think our LA won't collect shredded paper waste, but I could always mix it in with other stuff?

I have the same problem every few years (lot of business papers that can go as well) phoenix so I bought one of those burners with a lid and every day, I chuck a few mounds in (few pages at a time) and soon got through it all and the lid stops anything floating off into the ether!

Borrow a shredder and then put it on the compost heap or just mix it up with general waste.

We have one of these and did the same as you Holly - quicker and easier than shredding for large quantities. We also put a liner in it and use it to put garden waste in as our council doesn't collect. It's easy then to take it to the tip.

www.toolandfix.com/galvanised-garden-incinerator-and-lid-fire-bin.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwxZieBRDegZuj9rzLt_ABEiQASqRd-oPs_ASyH7kD9UsBFB9d_Ag1yo5WGUoVofJeG_UqRSQaAu_U8P8HAQ

That's the one Gagagran - it would take as much time to shred as to burn so it would be easier to get rid of it in one go.

If you have the time, you could tear off the bits that have sensitive information on them and recycle the rest. That would at least cut down the amount to shred.

My shredder died a couple of weeks ago (to be honest I killed it by putting through what I thought was an innocent Boots paper bag with a named/addressed prescription sticker on it. Turned out to have thick cardboard reinforcement) I am collecting a bag of torn-off bits that I shall shred some time, when I invest in a new shredder.

Meantime the shredder base has become a waste-paper basket - a spacesaving rectangular shape.

Eleg
It taken no time to tear off the sensitive bits, tear them to bits and put in another bag, or down the loo....... make papier mache

Don't clog the loo though - modern flushes can't cope with tough paper the way the old pull-chain ones did.

We put ours in the compost or bit by bit in the wormery. (I find it difficult to get rid of 'official' papers to be honest and mostly just keep it.). I have a huge collection of old cheque books which I know I should get rid of.

Mr P would have 40 fits if I tried flushing down the loo!

I think that as there is so much of it, it will be a case of going through and selectively shredding, providing I can borrow a shredder.

Use a metal bucket and just burn little bits every day outside.

I was puzzling over this problem recently as I have decided to get rid of forty-five years' worth of journals, some of them big thick A4 books, closely written (a lot of angst).

I tried shredding two of them which created a huge sack full of paper and anyway I didn't want to just dump it all in the tip because I am very fond of my journals and wanted to give them a proper send-off.

So I bought one of those garden incinerators which have been mentioned and burn the pages from the journals without shredding.

I was worried about smoking out the neighbourhood but we picked a night, last week, where there was absolutely no wind and I checked no washing was out (although windows were open) and went for it. A bit of smoke which went straight up and not across, which I thought was reasonable, certainly nowhere near as bad as a barbecue.

I'm amazed some LA's won't take shredded paper

I always shred just the sensitive bits private details !

I always shred the sensitive stuff too and luckily our council takes it in a clear plastic bag..

When we moved, we used a company which dealt in confidential waste - they were very good and cam recommended.

When I used to get rid of old paperwork, I used to tear into very small then make a little bonfire , so it all got burned !

Why not just use a pair of scissors ? they were invented before shredders.
I tear off name and address from top of statements, snip up and rest gets torn into pieces or added to recycling if not sensitive material. I have been sorting paperwork today and found TV licences from donkey's years ago.

I put papers I want to get rid of in a bucket, fill it up with hot water and a squirt of detergent, wait til it goes a pulpy mess and then dispose of it.

How about multi blade scissors like these? https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=multi+blade+scissors&tbm=shop&spd=13221955740058356421

There are all prices, but these are cheap ones. They also go under the name of herb scissors (for quick chopping of herbs)

Wow, even cheaper! £1.41.

www.amazon.co.uk/Kitchen-Craft-Herb-Scissors-Multi-Bladed/dp/B002AT5K18/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1405584744&sr=8-2&keywords=multi+blade+scissors