How Shred Events Can Provide Communities With Opportunities to Safely Recycle Sensitive Information

Today businesses, nonprofit organizations, and individuals are becoming increasingly conscious about the size of their carbon footprint—and more importantly, cutting down on the size of it.

Paper disposal is usually one of the foremost recycling efforts, and yet, one of its greatest drawbacks is the fact that when it comes to documents with confidential information, placing them in a recycling bin intact leaves the sensitive contents of papers available to potential theft or abuse.

Of course, the traditional counter to the risk of throwing away sensitive information has always been paper shredding, but in terms of recycling this strategy also runs into roadblocks.

Recycling facilities sift through and sort the various recyclables they collect like plastics and paper products for the different recycling processes, however the problem with shredding paper is that because the paper shreds are so small, they cannot be properly sorted.

Because of this, the majority of recycling facilities won’t accept shredded sensitive documents, no matter how committed one is to environmentally-friendly waste disposal. Although this may place many between a rock and a hard place in terms of deciding which is the best way to get the right balance of both, there is another option.

Creating a sustainable way to safely destroy sensitive information, local businesses and communities will often hold periodic shred events, which allow attendees to not only come and have all their papers shredded, but recycled as well.

The shredding providers who work with shred event hosts partner with local recycling companies, specifically working with them for a shredded paper recycling process that allows the paper bits to be pulped and reused like any other recycled paper, but with their owners’ sensitive information safely destroyed as well.

Where Can I Find an Event Near Me?

Individuals and organizations large and small can host shred events in their communities—church groups, local businesses, and even schools.

Just this week, the Limerick Garden of Memories in Limerick, Pennsylvania is hosting their own event in partnership with the nationwide shredding provider Shred Nations. Giving the participants a safe way to add to an increasingly eco-friendly world, all attendees are welcome to contribute.

In addition to the shred event, the Limerick Garden of Memories community shred day is also hosting a simultaneous food drive for the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities—doubling the opportunity for community members to come out for a good cause when they participate in events like Limerick Garden of Memories’ shred day.