Old paper documents

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#288696 17-Jul-2021 12:23

Having a cleanup of the attic and have bank statements, rate notices, invoices, etc... going back to 2000-2010.

I do have a paper shredder but at 5 pages (and regular jams) it will take me forever to shred. I can also take some to work to put through the document destruction bins however the easiest optio nis to just throw it in my recycling bin. Is that safe enough?

The credit cards for the bank statements have all been closed. I don't care if someone sees I went to Pak N Save on 1 March 2003 and spent $153.34.

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#2745702 17-Jul-2021 12:44

I absolutely would not be putting anything of that calibre (except for supermarket receipts) out with the recycling (even for closed accounts, etc). If you can take them to work for the destruction bins, I'd do that.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

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#2745703 17-Jul-2021 12:46

Just tear the pages into 1/4s and put them in the recycle bin.

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richms

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#2745704 17-Jul-2021 12:50

I have a whole lot that is waiting till its brazier season.

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k1w1k1d

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#2745762 17-Jul-2021 14:00

Rip in half and soak in a bucket of water for a few days until they turn to mush. Drain most of the water out and put in the rubbish or green bin.

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#2745791 17-Jul-2021 15:13

k1w1k1d:

Rip in half and soak in a bucket of water for a few days until they turn to mush. Drain most of the water out and put in the rubbish or green bin.

Good suggestion. Might even put it on the garden.

Had to abandon the recycle bin idea - it gets collected fortnightly and we usually fill it so there's not enough room anyway.

Journeyman

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#2746277 18-Jul-2021 17:00

Instead of soaking it in a bucket of water, soak the paper in a bucket of DYE!

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#2746282 18-Jul-2021 17:27

soak it in soy sauce and then rubbish

ANglEAUT

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#2746316 18-Jul-2021 20:18

Why soy sauce?

Maybe we need post the recommended answer into the "Hacks that make life a little bit easier" thread.

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#2746317 18-Jul-2021 20:22

i have a lot of it

Lias

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#2746319 18-Jul-2021 20:35

I use a 50 gallon steel drum and a lighter.

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#2746325 18-Jul-2021 21:36

Further to the idea of using a bucket of water: to speed things up you could use hot water, soak for an hour and then churn it up with a stick blender.

Bonus: if you have kids, teach them some basic paper making, they can use the pulp to make their own paper for school holiday crafts.

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fe31nz

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#2746344 18-Jul-2021 22:30

Lias:

I use a 50 gallon steel drum and a lighter.

I am sure your local council would have something to say about that - home incinerators were banned a long time ago due to air pollution problems. Reinventing them is not a good idea.

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#2746496 19-Jul-2021 11:26

Get a better shredder .The cheapies are useless.

The shredder at work can do 10 pages, will cope with staples, NEVER jams .

wlgspotter

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#2746580 19-Jul-2021 12:29

We had to do something similar earlier in the year too, and I ended up shredding them. Granted it took us a few hours, but it was pretty fun (and it was an excuse to not do anything else) LOL...

And we ended up putting the shredded pieces into our compost bin too.

But back to O/T - I too would not put any of those "straight" into the recycle bin without tearing them or "destrying" them first...

traderstu

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#2746584 19-Jul-2021 12:41

fe31nz:

Lias:

I use a 50 gallon steel drum and a lighter.

I am sure your local council would have something to say about that - home incinerators were banned a long time ago due to air pollution problems. Reinventing them is not a good idea.

Not sure where Lias is from, but not all councils ban incinerators. From personal experience both WBOPDC and MPDC allow the use of them (with conditions of course)

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