Shred-It is a vendor located here. They do have bulk shredding events. Maybe that could work for you?

I never heard of a community shredding event, but that's a good idea. So is the idea of a commercial shredding service, which I hadn't thought of. Thanks, Rob! There must be one around here somewhere.

I would totally hope so. So much easier to bag it up, and hand it off to professionals. (((alisande)))

"So much easier to bag it up, and hand it off to professionals."

But you would have to have complete, utter, and total faith in those professionals to not grab any of the info off your documents before they are shredded. Call me paranoid, but in this day and age of hacking, identity theft, etc., I'd be more comfortable if the "community shredding event" allowed you to stand there and watch your documents get put into the commercial shredder and come out the other end in pieces.

I've got a huge pile of documents to be shredded, too. What I'm doing, though, is using a pair of scissors to cut off the part with the private/confidential info, and shredding that part. The rest of the document (without any personally identifiable info) goes in the recycle box.

Some businesses have big shredders and will allow you to shred batches for a price.

Yes to community shredding. Regarding the house/business sales contracts once the property has changed title (you hold no interest at all in them) I see no reason to keep them.

Can you really imagine someone going to a recycle center and going through mountains of trash looking for those papers? If you can't come up with a reasonable scenario where someone can damage you by having that information, then, yes, you are being overly concerned about those papers. And i can't think of any use for them by criminals.

With all the information being hacked from current databases, the chances of your papers getting into the hands of someone who knows how to use them is pretty low. But if you are worried, take them to your local Staples store and have them shred them.

At work (medical field), the Shred-It box has a bag in it. The box itself stays locked and only they and I have a key. Once a quarter, they take the bag, locked up, to their truck. Without going through it. They are legally bound to keep what they have private. If work trusts them, I trust them. And we've had no issues in 10 years.

Alisande,

As a fundraiser, our hospice has a paper shred every two months. Our local bank and the hospital also sponsor shredding events once or twice a year. Here in Podunk Junction, they don't really "advertise" - it's usually a piece of paper tacked up on the bulletin board in the local market :-), but it might worth checking those types of places (they sound unlikely, I know, but you might be surprised) in your area. I never would have thought to ask hospice, but they obviously understand it's an unforeseen but necessary PITA part of dealing with the death of a loved one.

The best one I've come across so far (going through his mom and dad's stuff) is a receipt for a replacement tube for a television that his father saved from 1963 - PLUS the cardboard box that the tube came in was attached to the receipt! That one I just had to keep for the giggle factor.

Susan,

Where do you take your paper for recycling? Do they offer a shredding service?

Our County has 'Shredding Days' where they bring a truck to local communities throughout the county and residents can bring their paper in for shredding.

Staples advertises shredding on their web site but I don't know what they charge.

http://www.staples.com/sbd/content/copyandprint/idea/office-on-the-go.html

Thinking you need to be present for the shredding seems a little over the top. But I know where it comes from: The darned TV shows where they have people putting together shreds as if puzzles, in 30 minutes, no less! If criminals are too lazy to get a good, honest job, what are the odds they will reconstruct shredded documents? Besides, they're probably eternally stoned and incapable of making heads or tails of the shreds, lol.

One of our commercial shredders used to have a day a week Friday, when individuals could come from 4-6 to shred for free. Service got so popular that they moved to a bigger place, too far from me. We bought a nice shredder from Sams and do a little ea day, which is then thrown in the compost pile. But in OP's case, where she has a whole buncha stuff, going to a service, even if you have to pay, would be the way to go and take this chore off the TO DO list

No, I can't really imagine someone doing that, Graywings, but in this economically depressed area, anything's possible, unfortunately.

Lindsey, I've been doing the exact same thing. It's so tedious! I've gone through four episodes of Castle. :-)

Maina, I live in Podunk Junction too. We must be neighbors! We don't have a hospice, but we have a hospital--and I've been at odds for them so long that if they saw me coming they'd form a blockade and announce that the shredder was full. LOL

Maire, I meant to let you know that you won't need to save paper bags for me anymore because my recycling is being picked up now. I thought of doing this several times, but did I actually do it? It appears I did not. I'm sorry! Yes, my son found a garbage service that offers single-stream recycling, and we're very happy with it.

Staples turned out to be an excellent idea, thanks! You bring the papers to their store, where they weigh them and charge by the pound. The first 5 lbs. are free; after that it's 99¢ per pound. That sounds very doable.

Your name and address are public information. They appear on all your junk mail. I don't presume you shred that.

Old and closed bank or credit card accounts, that don't have your social security number? Unless you're sensitive to someone knowing that you bought a cheese pizza on March 12, 2003, or that you paid your doctor $25 in July of that same year, I'm not sure there's anything to be concerned about.

Financial papers for assets no longer owned or for people no longer alive, more than 7 years old, need not be retained.

Besides the franchise and national companies (like Iron Mountain), most towns have local businesses that do shredding. After all, it takes little more than buying a commercial shredding machine and making arrangement for disposal of the output. In my area, such places charge about $10 plus 20 cents a pound. I'd say being paranoid about the ultimate disposition of papers given to a commercial shredding company is very unreasonable but to each his/her own.

Your name and address are public information. They appear on all your junk mail. I don't presume you shred that.

I don't. But junk mail doesn't reveal a thing about my financial assets. And since this was before my assets drained away during the years my husband spent in the nursing home, it's possible (not likely, but possible) someone (again, in this economically depressed area) could find them interesting--in a criminal sort of way.

I'm remembering the 92-year-old woman down the road who was held at knifepoint in her home by a couple of burglars who said they heard she had some money. They finally decided they had the wrong house.

I won't get rid of financial documents related to the sale or refinancing of a home. I've kept one set from 25 years ago and it came in handy just last year. Personally, I'd hang on to those sale agreements/closing documents, no matter the age. It may not seem important now and may not be as relevant for your parent's house but one never knows!

I also recently had to go through my parents financial documents after dad passed. I kept everything related to stock purchases/sales and won't shred those for a few more years. Cleaned up a lot of stuff (mom's medical bills from 1998-2003 that they kept because I told them to!) but still kept others.

We shred other financial documents annually and place the shredded paper in our composter as necessary "brown" matter. I do one folder at a time to make it not seem like such a daunting task. I shred other information daily and try to keep up with it all.

Our credit union has free shredding events as do numerous community organizations throughout the year. We pull up, hand it to the guy and he immediately tosses it in the shredder which looks like a big truck. It's not like you hand it over and it sits there where people can go through it. Call your county government or perhaps the Chamber of Commerce or even your bank.....someone should have info on where you can have it done for free.

Good advice here on what to shred and what not. If you don't have access to commercial shredding, get yourself one and shred a few pages during the commercials. In a few weeks it'll all be done.

I had a ton of old papers, bank statements, credit card stAtements, etc.That I shredded last winter, It took me a good week to get it done. Also had income tax forms from 20 yrs. I think I would rather do the shredding myself even if it does take some time.

You did tell me about the recycling pickup - months ago - but I completely forgot!

We have a shredder in our den and while we don't shred as much as we used to we still shred enough that we have to empty the bin every 5 or 6 weeks. We dump it into a paper shopping bag and put it in our big recycling can for pick up.

Would a shredder be worthwhile to share with your son and DIL?

I actually own a shredder, and so do my son and DIL. Mine is very loud (are they all loud?), and if I put more than a few sheets through it I use earplugs. I have tinnitus, and loud noises are unpleasant.

Maire, I'm glad someone else forgot for a change. :-)

I will ask around about local, possibly free, options. Thanks so much for all the ideas! I always learn something new when I run a situation by the KT.

Susan, don't you garden? You can use shredded paper for mulch. You can put shredded paper in your compost. Both are totally awesome uses for shredded paper.

Check with your bank/credit union if they shred for their customers.

Moni

I do garden, Moni, although not as much as I used to. My son and DIL have the big vegetable garden now, and they've been putting a lot of shredded paper in recycling. I'll tell them about adding it to the compost pile instead--thanks!

I was reading a post on another website - they suggested putting all the papers in a large garbage bag and filling it with water. After a time, poke holes in the bag and let the water out. Perhaps you could then use it for compost. Just a thought.

In our area we have a shredding event. You can take large boxes or bags of papers you want to be shredded. It is done by out county. We have taken lots of papers. They greet you at your car and will take them immediately to big trucks on sight to destroy your paper work. We have had some papers for almost 50 years. Ours and my aunts. Nice to know that they were safely destroyed.

Without knowing what chemicals are used in the papers or laser printer toner, ink jet ink, or commercial inks on what's being shredded, I'm not sure I would put down the paper shreds anywhere near a vegetable garden or a fruit tree.

For financial papers having no tax consequence, for payments you're unlikely to dispute or need proof of purchase (I'm thinking like utility bills, medical bills and the like), after a few years and the dust settling, there's no need to keep them. Nothing like going through the drudgery of cleaning out an accumulation to motivate people to switch to paperless billing. The best way to avoid the hassle of shredding and disposal is to avoid receiving the paper in the first place.

don't know if it's practical, given the volume of paper it sounds like you have, but I'm with PattiZ:

put that stuff in the compost.

I'm curious why you don't burn anymore. I'd say it seems to make you more comfortable to see it destroyed so pick up a grill at a garage sale and burn away. Especially on a nice cool evening with a nice cool beverage in hand.

Cynic, I can't imagine burning papers in my charcoal grill, drink or no drink. :-)

A lot of years ago we had a burning barrel, and later a burning pile. No problems with either, but you have to pick the right day--ideally when the grass is wet or there's some snow on the ground, and zero wind. Even then, there's always some risk. So when we found a garbage service that took recycling, including junk mail and all manner of cardboard, we decided to stop burning.

Alisande -

I hate to mention this, just because it is an additional worry, but some recyclers cannot take shredded paper - it jams their machinery. I only recently learned this about my recycling company.

I hope you can find a free option, but even if you pay, it is is so worth it for the peace of mind. Having to attack each piece with scissors is a waste of a good TV show - just take the whole mess to shredders!

I'm thinking of getting a certain paper pack rat in my life a gift certificate for shredding....

My recycling co. doesn't want shredded paper - not only because of jamming machinery just think of it as flying all over the place when your carefully packed bag opens up on the conveyor belt.

Took me a long time, but I'm almost up to date with shredding and am trying to keep it that way. Some of the shreds go on the compost pile, some in paper bags for the regular trash pick up - and on rare occasions, a little load on the dying embers of the Smokey Joe... put the lid on to avoid a flying scrap.

I do find it annoying that every financial statement, bank statement, etc. has SS#s, account numbers, and all plastered on every sheet. The information is out there it's true, but why make it easy. A good cross-cut shredder is a worthwhile investment.

My shreds, about 2 months' worth, enroute to compost pile. I may water it to keep it from flying all over the place on this dry and breezy day

I am checking into this as well. It seems some UPS, some Fed Ex stores have this. You bring the stuff, it goes into a locked container which is picked up regularly and shredded offsite. In our area I think it is Iron Mountain who shreds it. The price seems to be as best I can determine, 79 cents a pound. My dh called one place that will charge $150 to shred on location. We do live in a development, but there is minimal sense of community- but we are tossing around the idea of mentioning it to neighbors and seeing if people are interested. That could really work,and would be a lot more convenient than putting 2 boxes in the car when we got around to it.

Again though, we do need to go through the boxes to make sure that there is nothing we need...........