Is there anywhere where you can take papers to be shredded?

[Okapi]

We have a ton of paper waiting to be shredded. There was a long period of time when DD was really young when DH didn't want her to be around the shredder when it was being operated and it couldn't be done while she was asleep. I have a paper grocery bag full of paper that needs to be shredded (old bills, credit card applications - all out of the envelopes, it's only the sheets that need to be shredded), and DH has I couldn't even say how many bags/boxes of envelopes that need to be opened, sorted and shredded. I would love to be able to just get rid of it, but it takes forever, and emptying the bin is always such a pain. Seems like we just get in a good groove and we have to empty it. Is there anywhere I can just drop it off and be confident it will be taken care of?

[Graceie]

most UPS and staples stores will do shredding for a per pound fee

[Okapi]

That's what I was hoping. Wouldn't have thought of Staples, though it makes sense. And we have one right next to where I grocery shop. Thanks for the tip!

[mkksmom]

Office depot too.

[beanma]

Is there an advantage to shredding? Could you burn it if you have a fireplace? Alternately, if there's not a wildfire danger in your area like there is in mine, you could burn it in a grill or firepit outside.

[elsie]

Our county sponsors document shredding a few times each year, one of those times is around Earth Day. You might want to see if your county has something similiar. It is usually sponsored by the trash/recycle people.

[McGucks]

A friend of mine puts all of her shreddable, non-glossy papers in a big bucket and fills it with water, then drains the water after a couple of days.  She shapes the mush into big balls (bigger than softballs) and uses them as fire starters for her wood stove or outdoor campfires.

Is that cool or what?  Her 4 year old loves being the ball thrower!

[*bejeweled*]

We did this this year. We save up our paper for the free shred/recycle days.

Originally Posted by elsie 

Our county sponsors document shredding a few times each year, one of those times is around Earth Day. You might want to see if your county has something similiar. It is usually sponsored by the trash/recycle people.

[luckiest]

Also, probably just about any bank.  When I worked as a teller we had to shred *everything* because so much of what we handled was confidential.  We were a teeny tiny branch and had two big locked mega trash bins that a service came and took once a week.  We didn't advertise is as a service, but we never turned anyone down who asked us to shred old checks or whatever.  A whole garbage bag probably wouldn't fly because we fill up those bins, but a grocery bag wouldn't have been a big deal.

[philomom]

My county does allow a firepit in the backyard for recreational use. It rains a lot here... not much fire danger. I wait till have a bunch and use them to get a good fire going.

[LLQ1011]

OfficeMax does too. Shredit the company has shredding days where they park a big truck and you can bring your stuff. Staple and OfficeDepot and OfficeMax have bins that they put your stuff in that they cannot get into and then a shredding company comes and destroys it. The only issue with this is that sometimes with large volumes they dont have a lot of room so call the stores and ask how many bins they have open. One bin will usually hold 4 paper boxes full of paper.

The ups store has a huge self serve shredder. But this costs around three times as much as the bin service.

You can also have them come stop by your house and shred it on site for you.

http://www.shredit.com/Home.aspx

Whats nice about the bins at omax, officedepo or staples is that they can shred anything up to the thickness of a wall nail. So binder clips paper clips and staples and all stay on the documentation.