Is it safe to throw away shredded documents?

In old times, people had no concept of shredded papers and paper shredders. They used to pass down tons of documents to their next generations because they carried important information and could not be disposed of well. The addition of paper shredders to the world made things easier for people as they could easily destroy the papers they no longer needed. The practice of shredding unwanted documents with sensitive and legal information has been around for a good amount of time now.

In the beginning, the paper shredders felt like a magic but soon humans discovered that having blades cut in one direction only was not a really good idea. Those pieces could be put together to make sense out of the information added to the papers. This initiated a new wave of improvements in paper shredders giving the world new technology able to do cuts in multiple directions and even doing micro-cuts. These new paper shredders make sure that the information shared on the documents can’t be recovered in any way.

Have you ever thought what happens to the papers you shred and throw away? Where does all the shredded paper from paper shredding events go? Is there a way to make sure that information lost in shredding your documents can’t be recovered?

What happens to the shredded paper?

Paper shredding events have started becoming famous giving different private organizations, government institutes, and non-profit firms to arrange an event every now and then. This not only gives community a chance to get together and share a cup of tea, they can also get rid of unwanted documents in the most efficient way. However, an interesting question is if you are aware of the whereabouts of your shredded paper?

Since paper shredders have become easy to afford, a bunch of people prefer to have a shredder at home rather than waiting for paper shredding events. It saves people a lot of time so they can shred their documents whenever they want. Moreover, this is a great investment for people who have a lot of documents with sensitive information more often. Since they can’t afford to have these documents laying around, they can use paper shredders to get rid of them. However, what do they do their documents once they have been shredded? Do they simply throw them away at the dumpster or have another way to ensure they are disposed of well?

In case of shredding paper events, shredded paper garbage or recycle bins are sent to different organizations capable of recycling these paper pieces. These organizations are equipped with the people having right set of skills and machines to recycle these shredded papers into useful items. The shredded paper that goes to these firms come out in the shape of towels, lamps, furniture, and much more. However, the paper shredded at houses usually ends up at dumps or is burnt to ensure it does not fall into the hands of unwanted people.

How can you recycle shredded paper at home?

Burning shredded paper at home might seem like a good idea but it in reality, it is not. It produces a culmination of different dangerous gases resulting into polluting our environment. If you want to make sure that your sensitive information does not fall into wrong hands, invest in the best and most advanced paper shredder. The market is full of paper shredders that come equipped with technology capable of destroying paper at a micro level ensuring no information can be recovered. Once done with paper shredding, you can also mix the pieces, divide them into separate groups, and dispose them in different dump bags or on different days for extra safety.

If you are some who loves to ensure that not only paper is shredded but it is reused in the best way possible, you should definitely do some DIY projects with shredded paper. As we are already aware of the ways shredded papers can be reused, let’s look at some ways you can reuse them at home.

• Make reusable bowls out of your shredded paper garbage. All you would need is tons of shredded paper, water, glue, and some colors (optional). Soak shredded paper in a bowl and when it becomes really soft, add some glue and knead it to make it into a dough called paper mache. Now, shape it into bowls and leave them to get dry. You can paint these bowls as well if desired and use them as you want.
• You can follow the same process as shared above to make small trinket plates to place small jewelry pieces. If painted well, you can even gift these trinket plates to your loved ones.
• The same paper mache can be used to make a larger size of plates as well. These plates can be painted later and can be hung on the walls as decoration items. You can even gift these decoration plates to your friends and families as well.
• Lastly, you can create some paper mache out of your shredded papers and put a nice thick layer around a balloon filled with air. Make sure you cover the balloon 80% away from the opening. Leave it to dry and burst the balloon once the paper mache is completely solid. You can either paint this sculpture to add some soil and a little plan to it or you can instead a bulb with a cable and use it as a hanging light.

The list of the ideas shared above can be made as long as possible for a creative person. You can mix and match various ideas to create something new out of the shredded paper waste whether it is a decoration item for your room or a gift for next party. Next time, if someone asks you can you recycle shredded paper, show them the DIY crafts you make out of them. This way you would keep your sensitive information safe from unwanted access and save Earth from tons of waste as well.