Getting rid of documents

Isn’t soaking paper in water a waste of water?

Here in Devon we have a large blue plastic bag from the council for waste paper and shredded paper foc that the recycling lorry collects and empties. I shred paper until the bag is about half full which works for me. Bought a Cross shredder from lidl. Not the fastest but works OK.

I have so much to dispose of from my late husband, dad and mum. I've already worn out one shredder. There are companies that will collect and shred but not sure of the price

I used to be treasurer of a local charity so had piles of paper to shred each year, just keeping the files that had to be kept. When I handed over to the new treasurer he didn't want to store the old stuff so I've been shredding a year at a time. I was down to one year's worth when another new treasurer took over and asked my advice about how I'd categorised things so I happily handed over my last year's files. I still need to deal with a lot of old personal papers though! I have a shredder and do it every now and again when I'm in the mood. Before I retired I gave the shredded paper to a colleague for guinea pig bedding. Not sure what to do with it now though, as too much for the compost. Some of my personal stuff is so old I may just put it straight in the recycling.

fancythat

Am I the only poster who wouldnt trust a confidential waste company?

No, I wouldn't trust them either .

I shred weekly. Seem to stay in front of it.

Perhaps lay aside weekly time, shred piles, bag, dispose.

Every day, take 10 sheets, from different sources, soak them in water, squelch them, and throw them out with the garbage, along with the incinerating / shredding. Also, separate pages and do not destroy whole documents in one go.

Incinerator bin. Cost about £15

buffyfly9

I have just disposed of mountains of bank statements that my husband has saved since 2016!!!! Our shredder would have blown up. I read somewhere that if you soak the documents in a large washing up bowl overnight they turn to paper maiche, you squeeze them into cricket size balls, they then dry into lightweight lumps. I can confirm that it works, I toss them into the recycling bin. You would be surprised as to how much paper very quickly goes slimy and unreadable, it's quite therapeutic.

This is exactly what I do. Saves so much time. I thought I'd invented this but it seems buffyfly9 got there before me!

Like the sound of this. Next job😁

I think a lot of "confidential" paperwork may only need the personal details to be removed (torn or cut off- they're usually at the top of a sheet). Once this is done, the writing may well mean nothing as regards identifying the people involved. This is what we do with our paperwork. Generally speaking, I think that bank statements, receipts reports, bills etc. are rendered "meaningless" once any relevant names, addresses and reference numbers are removed. Then you need only shred the "significant" bits of paper; we put the remainder into the recycling bin.

I had the same problem a few years ago when DH1 died, with documents going back to the 1960s. I bought a heavy duty shredder and got going. When it broke, I bought another. Took me about four months to get through it all. Part of the grieving process for me, I suppose. It is amazing how much room shredded paper takes up.

Unfortunately we lived in a flat so the options of burning or composting weren't available.

I agree with Davida1968 that a lot of "confidential" paperwork may only need the personal details to be removed (torn or cut off- they're usually at the top of a sheet)..
the content not meaning a thing to anyone else.. look on the back aswell of course.
I have a cross shredder.

Just a reminder to those shredding paper.

Our council does not want shredded paper to go in the recycling bin, apparently it jams up the mechanics at the recycling site.

Has to go in General waste.

Not everyone realises this, they think it’s just ‘paper’.

Of course, I’m unsure if this applies all over the country.

Some shredded paper can be composted. (I understand that by law, printer's ink now all has to be "vegetable" based and non-toxic.) But glossy paper should not be included. Of course you can only add a limited amount to a compost bin - not sacks full!
Some animal rescue centres will also accept shredded paper as bedding for their "small" animals, e.g. Guinea pigs.

All of the above but I like to keep a few salient documents just for social history interest. My first full time payslip (to remind myself that I'm not that badly paid now!), first mortgage document etc. The odd big purchase receipt.

My mum did this and my daughter loved looking through them with me. I hope my grandchildren will find them equally interesting. They fit easily into a box file.

There really is no need to be suspicious about confidential waste disposal companies.

They abide by industry standards. They do what they say on the tin.

An easy way is to soak batches of them overnight in a bowl of water. The next day squeeze them out, tear into bits if you want, and dispose of in household rubbish. This method is the same as one would use for papier mache.

fancythat

Am I the only poster who wouldnt trust a confidential waste company?

No - neither would I. There's an epidemic of fly-tipping going on right now, and the Council only has to find a scrap of a document with your address on it and you'll be the one who gets a fine not the cowboys.

Although I had an employer for a lot of my career I was also self-employed doing sensitive stuff, so client records, and I also did some examining work so all that is confidential too. I did find a mobile shredding company (didn't know they existed) but reckoned it would cost around £200 depending on weight, so we have ordered an incinerator "bin" for under £20.

I also tried one of those roller things with ink in them but (a) it was very time-consuming and (b) you could still make out the digits on any slightly shiny paper, so not secure.

Wish me luck with the bin - I need to work out how to light it!

Oh, and I'm also Treasurer of our local u3a with over 500 members, so all their records need destroying. And some of the stuff goes back 20 years!!!

I have a. Memory of driving behind a lorry that seemed to be full of sheets of paper, the cover wasn't on properly and loads of sheets of paper were blowing out
I actually have a heavy duty shredder but even with that it's a pain to do large quantities. So what I have done in the past is removed addresses and account numbers etc and made sure that they are securely destroyed and haven't worried too much about random sheets of numbers etc from 7 years ago. I've actually stuck the bits with addresses and suchlike in my incinerator. Obviously if it is confidential data that's different

I was told at the recycle centre to put any sensitive papers in the household waste which gets incinerated.

Shredded paper won't be accepted in the recycling.

I have composted some old bank statements though I haven't had paper ones for years now. I have a wood fire so can burn small amounts of paper.

Are really old bank statements so confidentia?

I obviously do not put anything containing current bank or savings information in the bin unshredded, but once statements are 2 or 3 years old, they are in the past and say very little about your current life. Put handfuls of paper, not tied up in paper recycling and someone is only likely to pick up one sheet of statement, so what?

oodles
The bags offered to my mother-in-law by the local company are sealable.

How do you know you were behing a lorry with confidential paperwork?