How would you dispose of boxes of items that should be shredded?

[Anonymous]

Cleaning out the home of elderly relatives and I have upwards of a dozen bankers boxes of docs with sensitive info (from banks, SS, etc.).

I don’t own a shredder.

Given the volume, is there somewhere I can safely get the items shredded, or is it better to invest in a shredder?

[Anonymous]

Where do you live?

There are so many free shredding community events all around the area throughout the year. Or, google free shredding near me and some companies will do it for you for free if it’s under a certain quantity.

[Anonymous]

Look for a free shredding event like the PP said.

[Anonymous]

Depending on how many boxes it is and where you are, there are companies that will bring a shredding truck to you or you can take them to the shredding place.

[Anonymous]

Free shredding event or go to Staples or similar. They let you shred for a fee.

[Anonymous]

A shredder costs around $25 so just get one and make some confetti.

Or burn them.

[Anonymous]

I love in Nova and had a good experience with Proshred Security coming to my house. I leave the papers in the box and they have a machine that picks it up, dumps the papers and returns the empty box. A camera shows the shredding action. It is kind of fun to watch!

[Anonymous]

Free shredding event, or take it to UPS Store/ FedEx office. They charge per box. Bill it to the estate.

[Anonymous]

Professional shredder places existing near D.C. and basically nowhere else in the country, except near a few large city government offices.

What a coincidence.

Also, those places run them through scanners now and data mine what's being shredded before it's destroyed.

Cannot believe how few people are aware of that. It's a goldmine of data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Professional shredder places existing near D.C. and basically nowhere else in the country, except near a few large city government offices.

What a coincidence.

Also, those places run them through scanners now and data mine what's being shredded before it's destroyed.

Cannot believe how few people are aware of that. It's a goldmine of data.

Be careful with shredding companies. I took boxes full of sensitive paperwork from two separate estates to a free shredding event. The folks took the bags without comments but didn't immediately shred them. They said they would shred them "later" when I asked why they weren't shredding them. I said shred them now or I'm leaving with the boxes. I was indignant, as these bags were full of banking and other sensitive information. I was the only person there in that moment.

[Anonymous]

I bring them to work. There are shredding containers in multiple places within my law firm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A shredder costs around $25 so just get one and make some confetti.

Or burn them.

It will take forever to shred boxes of papers with a personal shredder. Those are only good for a few pages at a time.

[Anonymous]

They said they would shred them "later"

This is my experience with every shredding event I have ever been to

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Professional shredder places existing near D.C. and basically nowhere else in the country, except near a few large city government offices.

What a coincidence.

Also, those places run them through scanners now and data mine what's being shredded before it's destroyed.

Cannot believe how few people are aware of that. It's a goldmine of data.

Every UPS store in the country offers shredding, don't be silly. The idea they are scanning individual pages in a bulk shredding bin is also silly.

OP, don't buy a shredder, it will burn out before you finish that volume. Either pay for a service or go to a county event.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Professional shredder places existing near D.C. and basically nowhere else in the country, except near a few large city government offices.

What a coincidence.

Also, those places run them through scanners now and data mine what's being shredded before it's destroyed.

Cannot believe how few people are aware of that. It's a goldmine of data.

Every UPS store in the country offers shredding, don't be silly. The idea they are scanning individual pages in a bulk shredding bin is also silly.

OP, don't buy a shredder, it will burn out before you finish that volume. Either pay for a service or go to a county event.

They might not scan 100% of them, but look at them and determine on a case by case basis. Scanners are incredibly fast now. 100% of US Mail gets scanned many times.