Getting rid of huge pile of bank statements/confidential documents?

[PeterW]

I've got more or less an entire bin bag of papers which need to be securely shredded ? bank/credit card statements, work-related documents etc ? and I'm not sure what the best option is. It's far too much for a domestic shredder and setting fire to it all would be a bit anti-social where I live.

Can anyone maybe recommend a shredding service? Most commercial shredding companies seem to only cover businesses with vast amounts to shred regularly, not just one-off jobs. Any tips appreciated.

[ruffers]

I'm sure a domestic shredder could handle it, the question is whether you can..?

1) Buy bottle(s) of (whatever you fancy)

2) Start DVD(s) of your choice

3) Get shredding

I'm guessing you'll need what, 3 bin bags for your 1 of unshredded material?

Think of it as an opportunity to watch that box set you got for Christmas and never found the time.

As for as 'any tips appreciated'... I had to go through the above process recently. So my tip now is 'shred as you go'..

[Marmora Man]

Why not just burn it all - small bar b q set would do the trick if you don't have access to a garden with bonfire space.

Alternatively make it into paper mache models - or paper mache logs to burn on the fire / bar be q / chimena

Then, in future, as Ruffers says, do it as you go along.

[DulwichFox]

Just buy a domestic shredder. Then you can keep say 3-6 months documents and shred each month.

http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en&q=pc+world+shredder&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=SsleTIrHEYWUjAf2nqHzAw&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CCsQrQQwAg

[PeterW]

Thanks for all the tips, but sadly I remain a bit stuck. My garden is a small courtyard, and burning that much paper - about 20kg - would be a bit antisocial for nearby neighbours.

It's also far too much for any domestic shredder, which (unless you spend about ?150) generally need about 10 minutes of cooling for every 3 minutes of shredding. It would take me about 24 hours straight, more probably.

Agree fully in future it's best to keep on top of this, but these papers were mainly from when I lived abroad, and I had to keep them for a while for tax reasons.

[DulwichFox]

You have to start some where.

I have a small domestic shredder.

2-3 sheets at a time. 100 sheets then wait for a couple of mins.

It is tedious. but eventually it will all be gone.

Otherwise it will just keep building up.

There are shredding services, but if you shred it youself you

can be sure it's gone. and it will build up again.

I shred everything I don't need that has my Name, Post Code

[KalamityKel]

Oh come on you can get a decent shredder for not much more that ?60 (good investment if you're a regular horder of paper). If you treat the shredder nicely... you can easily get through a couple of packed lever files (as an example) a day.

If you've let the pile build up so much you cant expect it all just to disappear at the click of you're fingers.

Stop being lazy and just get on with it!

[Michael Palaeologus]

I take 2 options:

1 - Go into work early and use the big office shredder

2 - Wait until I visit a mate that lives in the country and use his garden waste burner

[SteveT]

I bought a shredder secondhand off the forum for fifteen quid and it would cope okay if you did a handful each time you went past the machine.

[PeterW]

Ah well, thanks for what tips there have been (apart from the 'stop being lazy' one). I do, otherwise, shred as a I go; this is a one-off pile which accumulated due to it being papers connected to life abroad which I had to keep hold of for a set period.

I did have a go at the pile with a ?60 shredder, and after an evening's stop/start work I had a binbag full of shreds but about 95% of the pile still to get through - it really is about 20-25kg. I'm not sure I want to devote three weeks of evenings to such a dull chore. The shredder then stopped working and I had to take it back to the shop.

[oldnewromantic]

Hi PeterW

Did you find a solution to this? Like you, I have a bag full and after several sessions was only about 10% of the way through.

[Eliza.D]

Hi. Fill up the bath with soapy water and soak it for an hour then take it out in batches and squeeze out the excess water and put in the paper recycling. Its what I do it in the sink for smaller amounts.

[maxxi]

Eliza.D Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi. Fill up the bath with soapy water and soak it

> for an hour then take it out in batches and

> squeeze out the excess water and put in the paper

> recycling. Its what I do it in the sink for

> smaller amounts.

...add some wallpaper paste to it and make large papier mache statues of reindeer to delight the children at Christmas.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTA4AHOsqnA0auGEepKRdYa0zi7UKyJs89PFyf3wVN68cP7LRkaPg

[womanofdulwich]

you could go through it and just rip the top off - wiht your address and account details- and recycle the rest one week- thats what I did.

then i tore the top corner off which was my address and recycled the following week- and then i was left with 10% of what i started with and I burnt on the fire/ tore up into even smaller bits. i did try shredding with my work shredder buts its hopeless. alternatively there are companies that specialise in secure disposal - we sent 100 bags from work but i think thats expensive- the companies give you special bags to fill and take away. I cant remember the name sorry.

[reetpetite]

Google Premier shreading they are offering free shredding for new customers.

[pablogrande]

I own a commercial shredding company, we offer a confidential free service to our new customers.

Please provide me with you full address and date of birth and we will arrange collection for transfer to our Nigerian processing plant.

[elloriac]

We use Paper Round at work. No idea what they would charge, but their website says that they do collect one-off confidential shredding...

http://www.paper-round.co.uk/start-now/start-now/one-off-collection.asp

[womanofdulwich]

ahh yes we use pap:)er round too.

[Frankito]

Ffs already... Please let me come over and collect it and I will burn it down the bottom of my garden.. Anything to kill off this thread already.