It doesn’t matter if you run a business or you’re just getting rid of personal documents, not doing secure disposal of them can cause you a lot of trouble. Sensitive information ending up in incorrect hands can lead to identity theft or in any scenario where people can misuse your information. Therefore, it’s a must to get rid of those documents in a safe way.
Some companies offer paper shredding services that you can hire periodically or for one occasion. That would be one of the safest ways to dispose of your papers. However, there are other options that you can apply in the case that paper shredding isn’t an option.
Shred them by hand
Before paper shredding machines existed, people used to shred stuff by hand daily. It’s an effective and simple way to throw away your information without worrying about it. Make sure to shred it into very small pieces so that the part of the paperwork that has the delicate information on it isn’t displayed.
After shredding the papers, put them in different bags or trash cans. This makes it impossible for anyone to try to put the broken pieces back together. We can’t imagine someone trying to do such a thing, but you never know.Burning
If it’s allowed in your neighbourhood, then burning documents would be a good way to go. Always make sure to do it in a safe way for yourself and the environment. Remember that an unattended fire can become a wildfire. Try to burn the document in a high bin or trash can.
Once you put out the fire, make sure to break up the ashes to be sure that there won’t be any readable piece of paper.Documents to your compost
This will be a more environmentally friendly way to do your paper waste management. Paper will degrade along with your fruit, vegetables and other organic residues. For better results, you should break your papers into small pieces. This will accelerate the paper degradation process.
Always make sure that the paper that you intend to compost is compostable. There are some kinds of papers (like glossy ones) that have a lot of chemicals on them. Trying to compost a glossy paper will be a disaster. It will pollute the soil, and that’s something that you don’t want.Multi-cut scissors
This will be the closest method to a paper shredder. Multi-cut scissors will do several cuts at once, which will make your task easier. Also, it will be extremely hard to put the broken pieces together. You can use this procedure alone, but it will be better if you combine it with any of the other ideas discussed here.
If you want to only use the multi-cut scissors, then throw the pieces away in different bins. As said before, this would be the best way to dispose of small pieces of your documents.Soak them in water
Forget about using chemicals like bleach or other stuff besides water. You just need to be patient with this procedure. You should let the paper soak in the water for at least 24 hours. Later, mix the paper water solution vigorously; you can use a paint mixing tool or any other device that will break up all the paper.
After draining the water, you just need to throw away the remaining pulp. If you have kids, you can use it to create recycled books. Give a second life to those papers that you no longer need.Paper shredder
As said before, using a paper shredder would be one of the most simple, quick and effective ways to dispose of your documents. Commonly, shredders will do several cuts into the paper in a vertical way. However, there are shredding devices that will do both, vertical and horizontal cuts to your documents. The only inconvenience would be that it will take more time for the machine to finish the job.
This method will be beneficial too if you have a big volume of documents. Just remember that it will take you some time, but it will be safe and effortless.Hire a document disposal service
There are professional services that will safely dispose of your documents. They will ensure that any sensitive information like financial or personal data would be unreachable. They can even take care of any digital information that you want to throw away. When doing e-waste recycling, they will ensure that your information is permanently erased from any hard drive disk.
Professional services will give you a contract that will ensure the secure disposal of any document that you give them. You can expect excellent service without any misadventures.
Conclusion
Don’t throw away any delicate document without ensuring your safety. Remember that there are people out there that will take advantage of any situation. If you feel a little insecure about shredding, you can use a black marker to hide important information. That will be like adding an extra safety step to the disposal of your documents. After that, you can shred them with confidence.
Also Read: How to Minimise Household Waste
