I just cut it up, but I spread dumping bits into the garbage over several weeks' time.

I'll do two or three cuts, and then put some of the pieces in the kitchen wastebasket, the rest in with the used kitty litter. Anybody willing and able to piece something together from that probably deserves a reward.

This is I wanna say the third story on Consumerist that I thought to myself "didn't I read that yesterday?" - turns out none of them were here, but all on Lifehacker. Great minds or something

I don't suppose anyone uses the "lighter fluid and outdoor fire pit" method? Seems like it would be easy, efficient, and most of all FUN!

Crosscut shredder, FTW! It's not that expensive, either. Mine is Staples' house brand and it was $30.

I use a crosscut shredder too! It was only $30 from Office max and well worth the price for the hassle & stress I save of cutting up cards and personal documents. I let it have everything: Old credit/debit cards, credit card applications, any paperwork w/personal info.

@temporaryerror: true, but I don't hate the environment enough to burn plastics.

For me, I toss them into a grill after a bbq

Works quickly and securely

@floraposte: Same here! I've also gone as far as dropping some of the key pieces into a very poopy diaper, if someone is willing to dig through that, then so be it. (I know, I know, impractical because that one only works if you have little kids)

@bairdwallace: Instead of actually burning them, you could just melt them into an unrecognizable blob of plastic.

I took a grinder to the last one I did. Turned it into a dust even finer than the liquify setting on a Blendtec blender.

Before I bought my cross-cut shredder I just burnt them in the grill.

I make guitar picks out of them. This way the bits are worn to nubbins and thrown away over a period of about two years.

I use a grinder. I'd like to see anybody reassemble a credit card from pulverized dust.

@pb5000:

I carry the pieces in my purse and dump them all over town, over the course of several days. One piece in the restroom at Walmart, one piece at work, one piece at a restaurant... there's no way someone could gather enough of the pieces to use it, unless they were stalking me.

Cancel card. Throw card away. No cuts needed.

Does anyone know how to destroy the keychain tag thing that mastercard sends you? I can't get rid of mine.

@temporaryerror: I've done this for old checkbooks... burning credit cards?.. a little toxic for my taste

I just cut it into shards with scissors and throw them away. If someone reassembles the card and makes charges I'm not liable anyway.

@FatLynn: Hammer and or vice. If it's RFID, you can also take the ring off of it, and nuke it in the micro real quick. That overloads the circuit, like what people were doing with passports.

I cut it into strips, and then put the strips into the cross cutter. Also, I take a few random pieces and sprinkle them in 1-2 different trash cans. So even if someone tried to put it together, the other strips would go out on a different garbage day.

I just report mine stolen, leave it in a slightly conspicuous public location and wait for some scumbag to get busted trying to use it.

...KIDDING!

@floraposte: Haha yep thats what i do with any potentially sensitive information that i need to destroy.

@yorick328: Great idea, but the plastic is too thick for my taste. I usually play with thin or a light medium though.

Lets all remember that unless you have a magnet that can levitate a rat or gerbil, you will do nothing to the magnetic stripe with what you may have sticking around your house, even hard drive magnets. I personally toss them into my burn barrel along with my scrap paper, and if your fire is hot enough, not much in the way of toxic smoke escapes, much like commercial incinerators. And yes, if you are wondering, I usually end up melting aluminum cans/horse shoes into a solid mass in my fires, as well as making glass bottles melt flat. It's cool.

@jimv2000: That is a possible solution, but the point of cutting up an old credit card is so that you wouldn't have to close the account (since no one can access it), and thus avoiding any credit dings on your credit report.

I cut em across the text lines, make sure to cut the mag strip in half vertically, and then I spread the cuttings into 3 or 4 different trash cans- my basement one for laundry lint goes out less frequently than kitchen or bath- so they'll not be in the same trash load.

And if someone wants to go digging in my dumpster or the dump to put together 20 pieces of my credit card- well, hell, they need the money more than I do at that point- hats off.

@floraposte: Cut them up, melt all the pieces back together into a plastic blob, cut the blob up, sand one piece smooth and swallow it for eventual entry into the sewage system, dispose of one piece into my trash can, mail other pieces out to friends and relatives in plain brown envelopes for them to dispose of.

@bairdwallace: Depends on how long you let the fire consume the credit card. A ten second burn will make two penguins cry, but won't kill them, for example.

@BobSalawalatski: Blendtec rules!

@coren: Actually great minds *do not* think a like.

@FatLynn: You must take the keychain tag and throw it into the fires of Mount Doom from whence it came.

I cut them in strips and throw them in the same bag that I used to pick up my dog poop.

My friend does something similar, only with his child's diapers. He put off buying a cross cut shredder until his child is potty trained with the theory that no one is going to bother piecing together stuff covered in baby poop when they can just as easily root through somebody else's trash.

Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

@FatLynn: If it's the "PayPass" keychain tag, it's almost impossible to cut open, but ten seconds in a microwave will nuke the chip (you should be able to visibly see it scorch inside the tag.)

I just set mine on fire.

You. Are. Awesome

I agree with the burning scheme. I used to cut them up, but not I get to piss off the green czar as well. I think my Visa carbon footprint is .2601-3380-2002-4501.

I take it that this girl never watched the Mythbusters episode on wiping the magnetic strip's information. The myth was that eel skin wallets made from Electric Eels could de-magnetize the strip, and in their test, it took them using an electromagnet at 1000 gauss.

Her little Hello Cthulhu magnet ain't gonna do it :)

@temporaryerror: Bic. Does it every time.

I cut them into about twenty pieces then throw away the pieces in multiple trash cans in various places (subway stations, street trash cans, offices, etc.) so they can't be reassembled.

@floraposte: I love destroying cards at the same time I'm taking a business trip.

One number per trash can: 2 at home, 2 at gas station, 4 at departure airport, 4 at destination, 4 at hotel.

The link is missing the 'h' in http

Seriously, I'm impressed with the lengths some people go through to cut up their credit cards. Maybe it's selection bias.

I'm usually content cutting it up in several pieces, in key spots, and throwing it out in a few trash bags. It might go out on the same day, but the odds of somebody sifting through my garbage are very low.

If somebody wants to attempt identity theft, I assume there are easier, cleaner methods than digging through trash.

What could someone do with an expired credit card?

@pb5000:

You know...somebody is going to find those diapers in your trash and report you to Child Protective Services for feeding your kid plastic.

I guess I'm not normal when it comes to destroying my old credit cards. All I do is shred them into pieces 1/16" x 3/8". Now I'm unhappy. :(

@GitEmSteveDave_IsPyroclastic: Did you build yourself a backyard forge or something? Thats a toasty fire!

@outlulz: Usually when a card expires, a new one is issued with the same number and new expiration date and +X digits on the back of it.

@Bailen: No, it's all a matter of airflow and containing the heat. A flake of moldy hay, which can't be fed to the horses, when placed upon a fire, will hold the heat in, yet still let the fire vent gases. When the barrel glows orange, I know I'm getting hot enough.