It’s difficult not to get thrilled once springtime arrives. It also means tax season, which makes it a fantastic time to organize and tidy up. An orderly house has benefits beyond merely the aesthetic, as cleaning gurus like Marie Kondo assert. Your inner existence may also change with organization.
Sifting through mountains of paperwork and documents is part of getting ready for tax season, whether you file yourself or hire an accountant. It’s important to consider how to securely dispose of your extra documents after filing, whatever option you choose. For the protection of your personal information, shredding paper is the best option.
Why You Should Shred Your Personal Documents and Files
Protecting your personal data is essential to avoiding identity theft. Everyone is concerned about having their bank account or credit card stolen, which is something you obviously want to prevent. However, such thefts are less complicated to stop than those involving the theft of personal information. Closing bank accounts might be a pain, but changing your social security number, name, location, or birthdate is neither simple nor even possible.
Paper shredding is a crucial component of your spring cleaning since it’s important to protect the privacy of your personal information. Once your personal information has been taken, you will need to use an identity/credit monitoring service or keep a close eye on your accounts.
Paper Shredding Options
You may either purchase a paper shredder to maintain in your home office or use a paper shredding service, depending on your particular demands and financial circumstances. Here is a summary of a few factors for both choices:
Buy a Paper Shredder
- It makes sense to get a home paper shredder if you don’t have a space problem and don’t gather a lot of documents. Small personal paper shredders won’t break the bank, but because of their capacity restrictions, bigger projects may take longer to complete.
- There are many different sizes and kinds of paper shredders. Shredders with a greater capacity and a higher level of security will cost more.
- Maintenance on paper shredders includes cleaning the blades.
- The shredded paper recycling will fall within your purview.
Using a Paper Shredding Service
- You won’t have to store and maintain the shredder, which is the primary advantage of employing a paper shredding service.
- You may arrange a pickup, drop off your documents, or have a mobile shredding service visit your house.
- Shredding services are simple, quick, and involve paper recycling regardless of the size of the job.
- There are several paid and sometimes free paper shredding services available.
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Best Paper Shredding Services (and Their Costs)
1. FedEx Paper Shredding
How It Works: Call your neighborhood FedEx location to find out whether shredding services are offered. The majority of sites provide a drop-off service where your papers will be weighed and then put in a container that is securely sealed until they are picked up by Iron Mountain for shredding and recycling.
2. Office Depot Paper Shredding
How It Works: Office Depot and Iron Mountain collaborate to provide a number of various paper shredding choices. You may choose between having them come to your home or workplace for regular shredding services or a one-time collection. You may also contact your local Office Depot to inquire about their in-store shredding services for smaller projects.
3. The UPS Store Paper Shredding
How It Works: To verify the cost and availability of their paper shredding service, go to theupsstore.com and locate your nearby UPS store. UPS often charges for document destruction based on weight. Office paper, receipts, notes, and printouts may all be destroyed for a flat rate per pound.
No need to take out the folders, paper clips, or staples. My local store’s sales representative told me to call ahead to make sure there is space for my papers when I phoned for a price estimate since occasionally the container fills up, particularly if I was going to drop off a lot of paperwork.
4. Staples Paper Shredding
How It Works: document drop-off inside the shop. Until Iron Mountain picks them up, documents will be weighed and stored in a safe, secured container. Call Staples Print & Marketing and ask to talk with them if you have any queries about availability.
5. Shred-it Paper Shredding
How It Works: For bigger operations or the frequent shredding requirements of a small business, this online shredding provider is a fantastic option. You may choose a one-time shredding task with a two- or five-day service delivery guarantee. Shred-it assures the service is done by security experts and will provide a Certificate of Destruction. It is also possible to arrange a regular shredding service.
6. SoCal Shred Paper Shredding
How It Works: In the vicinity of Los Angeles and Orange County, this local shredding service is in operation. In addition to off-site shredding sites, they provide mobile shredding services and one-time purge shredding services.
7. Shred Nations Paper Shredding
How It Works: claims to put you in touch with local shredding providers. Shred Nations links you to different places around the nation, while I focused on my own region of Southern California. You will either contact the local number or submit an online estimate request.
You may select from a number of service providers within minutes after connecting. When the lockable containers are full, the service providers will return to shred the contents while you observe. Moreover, a certificate of destruction will be sent to you.
8. Prosed Paper Shredding
How It Works: This business provides services in 26 states and 41 metropolitan regions. To find out whether they serve your region, go online. Along with alternatives for personal services and small enterprises, they provide a range of services for bigger businesses. You may visit a Prosed facility or make arrangements for Prosed to send a mobile shredding truck to your site.
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Are Paper Shredding Services Secure?
All paper shredding services include security methods since they are aware that security is a top priority. To guarantee that your papers remain confidential until they are destroyed, they are often kept inside of a container. Each business offering this service will specify their own security approach and provide safe shredding.
Where Can I Find Free Paper Shredding Services Near Me?
Remember that certain businesses, communities, or cities/towns may provide free paper shredding and recycling on April 22 in honor of Earth Day. For instance, the City of Torrance in California (where I dwell) is providing free paper shredding to its inhabitants in observance of Earth Day. Search for this event in your region online. It’s wise to benefit from freebies wherever possible.
FAQs
How many sheets of paper can you shred at once?
A basic, cheap shredder can shred up to 1 to 3 documents per pass. But more expensive shredders with a more potent motor can shred through 20 sheets per pass or more.
How much does it cost to get shredded?
Mobile Shredding: The price to have a shred truck visit your location varies by location, quantity, and other factors. However, the national average is between $130-150 for a project of around 120 lbs. If you have a larger project, the cost will be higher.
How much does a home shredder cost?
Purchase price of shredder: can range from $200 – $11,000 (see here for Grand and Toy pricing) Life expectancy of shredder: based on varied usage this can range from 5-10 years or more.
Where is the best place to shred documents?
With shredding services available at The UPS Store locations nationwide, you can get rid of your personal and business documents using one of the leading document destruction vendors, Iron Mountain®. Shred your items to help protect yourself and your business from identity theft.
How many papers can you shred?
Commercial shredders can handle up to 500 sheets a job, and can run up for to 45 minutes before requiring a cool down period. Ideal for offices with multiple users. Office shredders can handle up to 250 sheets per job and run for up to 25 minutes before requiring a cool down period.