Shelbyville Times-Gazette: Blog: Once you've shredded your personal documents, then what?

Once you've shredded your personal documents, then what?

Posted Tuesday, October 13, 2009, at 12:16 PM
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Ok, I just read the blog entry by Steve Mills entitled "Preserving your identity is not just someone else's responsibility". After reading this entry I started looking more in earnest for ways to use the shredded paper once you've made sure that any would-be identity thieves are thwarted.

After a bit more research I've come to the conclusion that EVERYONE should own a shredder. One of the biggest reasons is that you can get rid of all of your old bills and personal records safely and securely, but also because of all the things that you can do with the shreds. I still haven't found a way to make bricks out of it but I have found that most (haven't checked Shelbyville) animal rescues and humane societies accept the shredded paper for use in kennels and litter boxes.

You can also use the shreds for shipping packing or gifts packing. Of course for these you would REALLY want to make sure you've got the very small cross-cut shredder so that Aunt Bertha doesn't see anything that might have come in one of those "plain brown wrappers".

Another use for it is composting. Although for this one you would have to make sure that you didn't have any shredded envelopes with the little plastic windows in there.

What are some other ways that you can think of to use the shredded paper so that you're not just throwing away the shredded paper? Especially if you can tell me how to make the bricks for burning.

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You can actually use it to make ... paper. The paper is a somewhat gray, depending on your source material, and it has a thick texture, but you use it for little note cards or scrapbook projects or things like that. A friend of mine taught me this when I was assisting her in an arts-and-crafts workshop at a church camp some years back. You should be able to find directions online, but it basically involves pureeing the strips of paper with water in the blender and then straining it on a screen. (Do look up directions, though; if the mixture is too thick, it could burn up the motor in your blender!)

I haven't done this in quite a while, although I think I still have the little screen that my friend gave me.

-- Posted by Jicarney on Tue, Oct 13, 2009, at 12:32 PM

Oh -- I didn't even notice your last sentence about the bricks for burning. One of my teammates taught this in Kenya this year!

The way we did it was with a big wooden press, about the size of a saw horse, which compressed a slurry inside a cylinder of PVC pipe with small holes in it. The slurry was composed of paper, assorted plant material, sawdust, whatever they could find -- but the paper was considered important becuase it helped to bind the mixture.

The briquettes were left out to dry once they had been compressed.

I can put you in touch with the fellow who taught this if you'd like. But once you've learned it, you're in danger of being recruited for a future mission trip.

Here I am operating the press:

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/Album...

-- Posted by Jicarney on Tue, Oct 13, 2009, at 12:38 PM

So they just use paper (or other paper-like substance) and water then let that dry out with no actual bonding agent? That's awesome. I was concerned that any bonding agent would be toxic. Now I have to figure out how to build one of these presses...lol

-- Posted by Thom on Tue, Oct 13, 2009, at 12:58 PM

Check out Wikipedia's paper mache entry and the Papier Mache Resource.

Who knew "chewed up paper" and an adhesive could make cars,countertops and gun parts as well as jewelry,parade floats and pinatas?

(It may get harder to keep paper intact once folks realize how many ways this substance can be recycled.)

-- Posted by quantumcat on Tue, Oct 13, 2009, at 2:10 PM

I have a friend that used her shreds to make really lovely paper bowls and delicate paper jewelry.

-- Posted by cfrich on Tue, Oct 13, 2009, at 4:32 PM

We use our shredded papers for various crafts such as the stuffing for small teddy bears, Paper mache crafts and much more. Since I homeschool, we have alot of papers and found new ways of using them as well as our junk mail and old newspapers.

-- Posted by PrpleHze on Tue, Oct 13, 2009, at 6:14 PM

Use for mulch in gardens. Just spread it where it needs to be and give it a good soaking. Weeds won't break through and it holds in water very well. At the end of the growing season, till it under for compost.

-- Posted by quietmike on Tue, Oct 13, 2009, at 6:53 PM

I don't worry so much about shredding my documents as those documents that can not be shredded!

I got a notice from Blue Cross Blue Shield yesterday that the hard drives with personal information on them have been stolen. Of course they have no idea whose info it was and it may or may not contain social security numbers and birthdays along with the names of thousands of BCBS of TN customers.

When companies that we trust our personal information with can not keep it safe then am I wasting my time shredding?

-- Posted by Dianatn on Wed, Oct 14, 2009, at 9:09 PM

Thom Williamson

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