and if you ship a lot of things, the shreddings make good free packing material!

It is evil to use shredded paper as packing material. I've received a package packed as such and it gets everywhere. There is paper dust. It's just a bad scene.

i used to own chickens, and would line the henhouse with finely shredded papers. then i composted them. not likely someone would have got my identity that way. now that i live in town, i sift the shredded stuff thoroughly and hand it to the curbside recycling team when i've accumulated enough.

@wallspray: Sorry, that was probably from me. :)

I should probably get a shredder, but right now I usually just throw any sensitive documents in the sink, and swirl and shred until they turn into a nice pulpy mass. Then, into the garbage.

Hm... yeah, I should probably just get a shredder. Problem is, it's so much fun to shred, I'd probably shred things I shouldn't. Like papers I might need.

any sensitive papers I need to dispose of I rip to shreds ,then soak in water & wad it up in a tight ball (sometimes into seperate balls)then throw away (sometimes in seperate wastebaskets). Ever tried to unravel paper once its been wet,then dried & molded into a nearly solid ball? Just about impossible.

I dont produce/recieve a lot of sensitive papers. I get most of that stuff in electronic form over the net.

@wallspray:

I'd sooner paper dust and paper shredding than those packing peanuts.

@kittenfoo: A lot of people put it at the bottom of the cat's litterbox when it's particularly sensitive documents. NOBODY is going into your shreddings once cats have peed on them.

I shred anything I suspect, and use it as firestarter in my fire pit.

When I don't have time for a fire, I empty my cat's litterbox into the bag of shreddings. Have fun with toxoplasmosis, identity thieves! When I had a bunny it was her cage lining.

Poop!

A bunch of kids famously reassembled strip-shredded documents in a gymnasium one time, so definitely cross-cut or confetti shred everything. The only problem I have is finding a high enough-volume shredder. It takes forever to shred even one day's worth of junk mail because most shredders can only do a few "sheets" at a time (depending on thickness).

My cats, who are TERRIFIED of the vacuum cleaner, absolutely adore the shredder. If they hear me shredding documents, they come running. They stare, transfixed, as the paper disappears into the machine. When I'm done, they look at me all "hey, why did you stop? We were having fun!"

So aside from helping to save yourself from identity theft, you might entertain your pets too.

Also, if you buy a crosscut shredder, buy the oil. It seems silly, but it really will extend the life of the shredder. My weird cats try to lick the oil, too, so I have to be very careful to wipe up spills and put the oil away when I'm done oiling the shredder.

@FitJulie: Oh, God. A few years ago I was the official document shredder at my office and would have to shred hundreds of pages at a time. I was constantly reaching for the shredder oil or the WD-40.

Thank you for reminding me that my present job is better in some ways.

still think I'd prefer it over that horrible styrofoam that is full of static and gets everywhere@wallspray:

(This is not a 'my identity got stolen via my garbage' story, much as it sounds like it will be.)

I always thought the whole 'someone might steal your identify out of your garbage' thing was totally overrated. I mean, what are the odds, right?

At one point, while cleaning out my car, I came across my long expired passport. It was at least 3 years out of date and had a big 'void' stamped into it. I don't remember why I decided I wanted it back in the first place (the government had offered to dispose of it for me) but since it had spent several years in my trunk, I figured keeping it was a low priority, so I tossed it in with all my other trunk garbage.

About a month later, my expired, thrown away passport showed up in my mailbox. Not returned by mail or anything. Someone put it in my mailbox.

I have no idea who that might have been, where they found it, why they decided to return it, or anything else. All I know, is my passport came back to me.

I bought a shredder the next day.

If you are buying a shredder, you really should go for the new diamond cut shredders. Not strip, not cross cut, but diamond cut. It turns all paper to confetti. Check out this podcast with Frank Abagnale (from Catch me if you Can fame) as he explains more...

[www.wellsfargoadvantagefunds.com]

If you have kids or pets, though, be careful. Lots of kids and pets have had their tongues and fingers mangled by paper shredders. If you do get one, keep it someplace inaccessible and unplugged when it's not in use.

@FitJulie: I use pam cooking spray on shredder blades, works fine, and dont have to buy anything I don't have on hand already.

I would say to anyone who does not have a shredder, don't buy a cheap 29.00 one. I have burned up 3 shredders before I finally sucked it up and bought a decent one. Had it for a couple of years and it shreds not only paper but cds and credit cards too.

For credit card offers and convenience checks, I usually tear them in half, and shred each half separately, and throw away one half at home and the other half I throw away at some other location. Like work.

Shredders are great, but they don't shread the pre-approved credit card offers that are mis-delivered to your shady neighbor by your lazy, government worker mail carrier. Only opting out of pre-screened credit offers can prevent that. [www.optoutprescreen.com]

I wonder if anyone knows a means to stop credit card statements coming to one's mail versus electronically, for instance. I have a few too many credit card statements from years-old accounts (fixed income, long debt history, trying to pay them off, I wince when I read some comments here ::sigh::). While I do shred, it takes a lot of time/energy.

I pay *nothing* by snail mail.

Some credit cards allow you to receive bills via email, but Wamu, for instance, says BY LAW they HAVE to send me paper statements. Yeah, um, okay.

So, I have done the DMA thing to cut back on junk mail, etc. but does anyone know any other means I might be missing for cutting out paper statements (with one's credit card account numbers emblazoned in several locations on the statement--or, gawd forbid--convenience checks attached!)?

Thanks

@ohiomensch: For credit card offers and convenience checks, I usually tear them in half, and shred each half separately, and throw away one half at home and the other half I throw away at some other location.

I do this too when it's inconvenient to shred everything, and I always hoped it would thwart all but the most determined thieves. Stopping these statements and having companies never send them unrequested would be ideal.

@homerjay:

This is all great, but it does nothing when large corporations can "lose" our info and all we get is 1 year of "notifiaction" if someone decides to go out and bend us over by using our # with nothing happening to them for it. As great as shredders are, we need to attack the real source of the problem most people have, the corporations lack of responsability.

@wallspray: It is evil to use shredded paper as packing material. I've received a package packed as such and it gets everywhere. There is paper dust. It's just a bad scene.

Do what I do; get a few sheets of newspaper and cut/fold/tape until you have an envelope, fill 50-75% with shredded paper, then seal up the open end. Viola! (Nearly) instant packing pad things!

Our sheriff's dept. has free shred-a-thons several times a year. I signed up for e-mail alerts and can take everything to be shredded at one time. It's a small county office, so it's likely that other towns offer this as well.

@matto:

There are lots of shredders on the market that can handle credit cards (and CDs). It means shelling out more than $10 though.

ebay is a good place to buy a NIB shredder. i bought a $200 fellowes powershred for $19.99 plus $35 s/h. there were plenty more, too. i thought about buying two or three but then got real.

i second the advice to get a beefy one. you want something that can handle staples, unopened full envelopes, credit cards, etc.

I certainly wouldn't use any sensitive documents as kitty litter, those felines would be charging a lot of adult cat toys on my card. You can get some great bargains on shredders at Hippo Deals, they happen to be not far from where I live.

@stonestix: You missed my point. It's impossible to shred mail that you've never received.

I used to work in that office pictured.

@ohiomensch: Gotta Second it. I've gone through three "inexpensive" under $50 shredders only to have them all break after a few months.

My office has been shredding bins and they allow people to bring stuff from home. A service comes once a month with a huge machine mounted on the back of a truck and they shred it on the spot.

Love the hamster-powered shredder idea. However, the product shown in the article is overkill. Just put the sheets in the cage, and the hamster (or gerbils) will happily shred it into bedding for itself. The only problem is I would need a small army of hamsters given the amount of crud I get sometimes.

here's a tip for maintaining your shredder. instead of spending stupid amounts of money for the commercial grade "oil" and application tool, just squirt a line of baby oil on both sides of a piece of paper, and send it through the shredder. cheap, fast, and effective. I do this every other week or so and my shredder is still going strong (cheapo 6-sheet cross cut that I got at staples for $10)

My Credit Union (okay, hold down the cheering for CU's...) has a periodic "shredding day". They have large commercial shredding trucks, and you just bring it in and they shred it in the parking lot in your presence. Last time, I hauled in several garbage bags worth of stuff, and in a couple of minutes months of shredables was disposed of!

I can't remember seeing any stories about identity theft as a result of dumpster diving on this site (they are usually about databases being stolen/compromised, phished accounts, or cloned accounts). What percentage of identity theft comes from dumpster diving?

I take all of the catalogs, sensitive mail, cardboard boxes, packaging, and other assorted paper, and stick it in a bigger box/paper dog food bag. About every two months, I get enough of a pile and a free Sunday, and hold a massive fire in my 6 foot fire pit. Good luck to the identity thief who tries to reassemble the ashes of anything, or reaches into the fire b4 it burns. I also take care of any aluminum cans during this process too, and end up with cool little T1000 like puddles at the bottom of the fire.

A few seconds in the microwave effectively destroys CDs. It might work for credit cards too

hmmm. Contrary to some of the other posters I've had some very good luck with a $15 crosscut shredder I bought from staples about 4 years ago. I don't get much junk mail, and I only shred the credit card application page, so I guess it doesn't get a whole lot of use. I have used it to shred old credit cards though. I guess sometimes you get lucky.

why do the few woman who post here make so many pet references?

Promotional assistance provided by the following:
Shredder Manufacturers
Retailers
Life Lock
Experian
and the other fear mongers who would have you believe that everyone is liable to be a victim.

(Not saying that ID theft isn't a real problem, just that it is highly overstated by the culture of fear)

@brennie: Yeah. My guess is on none.

Apparently none of you city dwellers have woodstoves. Growing up, we saved any scrap of paper we could to use as fire starter in the stove.

Anything with my name and address is shredded. No questions asked. I don't shred my credit cards or data CD's, I cut them up and dispose the different pieces in different trash cans... making sure no parts can be put back together and used against me.

Sounds pretty paranoid but that is the way we have to live these days...

I just spent a week shredding 1993 & 1994. I plan to spend the next week shredding '95 & '96. There has to be an easier (less time consuming) way to get rid of this stuff.

@MotherFury: As my good buddy Beavis used to say: "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!"

Actually, you can "opt out" of those credit card offers: go to OptOutPrescreen.com. I checked it out; no it's not a scam. You can even look it up on the Federal Trade Commission website if you want to. The only bummer is, if you do it online, they only stop for five years. In order to PERMANENTLY stop them, you actually have to send them a signed snail-mail form. Either way, it takes about 3 months for them to come to a halt. But I think it's worth it: I'm currently a doctoral student, so because I'm in "college" I've been getting these things every frickin' day.

Shredding what gets to you is fine but it doesn't help with the stuff that you don't get. Back when I had a bunch of store credit cards among all all my other bills there was usually one bill a month I didn't receive. I started online bill pay from my bank so at least my payments didn't get lost (or if they did the bank had to take care of it). I then canceled all but a couple cards and consolidated them with the banks I had other accounts with to reduce the number of bills and statements.
There were still time I receive mail addressed to other people, when they are nearby I'll just take it to them, too far away it goes under the wiper of the mail truck. Our neighbors have brought mail to us before that was put in their mailbox. So sometimes paper with your information on it is being lost or delivered to others and your shredder won't help there.
When you run your credit report ( and you do often right) look for the opt out of pre screened offers at the bottom and do it. Then consolidate all your cards down to just a couple and sign up for paperless statements for everything you can. Eliminate the paper at the source.

@matto: Try owning a P.O. BOX, that helps, and another bonus is if any package is delivered by USPS, the office holds it if sent to the PO BOX. That is way better than finding your package on the doorstep soggy and exposed

Don't throw it all away in the same place at the same time. They can't put the paper back together if parts of it aren't even there.

I also like to mark out the information I don't want anyone reading first (both sides of the paper).

Follow the three rules:

1) Fire.
2) Fire.
3) Fire.

I was at Bed Bath & Beyond today and they have two models of cross-cut shredders on sale for about $30 and $50. I picked up the cheaper one and seems to work fine. Got one of those 20% coupons lying around? Perfect opportunity.