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                MyBinding Blog > shreds

                Five Creative Uses for Shredded Paper

                September 22, 2010 by Jeff McRitchie Leave a Comment

                Shredder-bagShredding paper has become common in both the home and the workplace ever since identity theft started occurring at a startling pace. (Paper shredders are also more affordable than ever before.) Whether you shred just occasionally (say, to get rid of unsolicited credit card offers) or you shred a high volume of paper on a daily basis, there’s always the question of what to do with your shreds. Here’s a few ideas for you.

                1.) Recycling. If nothing else, you can always recycle your shreds. In fact, you should do this as opposed to throwing them in the trash. This prevents the landfills from getting even fuller and it helps save trees. Recycling is easy so you can take care of it quickly and then be done with it. Alternatively, you could compost the shreds if you prefer.
                2.) Starting fires. You can definitely use your shreds to help start a fire whether you’re at home or out in the woods. This is a great alternative to newspaper and lighter fluid since you won’t have to pay for the shreds and you need to get rid of them anyway. (Just be careful when starting your fire!)
                3.) Packing material. Shipping costs are always on the rise. Whether it’s stamps, boxing, or packing materials, these supplies get even more expensive with each passing year. But if you have a paper shredder, you can cut down on your costs by using your shreds as packing material. Just save the bits after you empty your machine’s waste bin and you’ll have something with which you can line your boxes. (This is especially true if you shred a lot of paper regularly.) If you have a cardboard shredder, you can also use that material when preparing your shipments.
                4.) Gift bags. Do you have a bunch of newspapers or magazines you want to get rid of? If so, you should run them through your shredder so you can use them in gift bags. This is a great, cost-effective alternative to commercial filler and the recipient of your gift will be impressed with your ingenuity.
                5.) Pet supplies. Pets enrich many people’s lives and if you have some of your own, your shreds can come in handy. For one thing, you can place some in your pocket pet’s cage so your critter can make a comfy nest out of it. You could also use the shreds to fill up a larger bed for your dog or cat. When you need to wash the cover, you can recycle the shreds and stuff new ones in after the cover has dried. (This will cut down on smells and give you a use for your new shreds.) Also, you might want to consider using your shreds in your cat’s litter box. That way, you can save money on kitty litter and your pet can remain comfortable. (Clay litter is tough on a cat’s paws and can cause problems if your pet has recently been declawed.)

                Shredding your paper can not only protect your identity, it can provide you with enough material for a variety of other uses from protecting items during shipping to making your pet happy. Shred your documents today with a high-security shredder so you can stay safe and get more use out of them.

                Filed Under: Paper Shredding Tagged With: paper shredder, paper shredding machine, shredders, shredding machine, shreds

                Ten Ways to Reduce Your Risk of Identity Theft

                September 9, 2010 by Jeff McRitchie Leave a Comment

                destroyit-2360-smc-sm1 With identity theft still on the rise, it’s more important than ever to take the necessary precautions to keep yourself safe. People are being more careful with their information. But how can you be sure you’re doing enough? While there are always extremes lengths you could take, here is a list of key steps to protect your information.

                1. Only carry with you what you need. When leaving the house to shop or dine out, take the debit or credit card you plan to use as well as your ID. There’s no need to bring every card you possess and doing so increases your risk. If a potential thief sees your open wallet bursting with credit cards, you’ve immediately raised your risk. Even without a thief catching a glimpse of the contents, in the case of a random purse snatching or a lost satchel, having a card or two at home will help to cover your expenses until new cards can be issued.
                2. Don’t carry your social security card in your wallet. That also goes for your passport and birth certificate. These are key items in stealing someone’s identity. They are better kept in a secure location, such as a safe or even a safety deposit box.
                3. Try not to put your social security number, driver’s license number, or phone number on your checks. Better yet, try not to use checks at all. They contain your account number as well as personal information and are an easy way for a thief to leach money out of your account.
                4. Be vigilant about checking your monthly bank and credit card statements. Immediately report any activity that is out of the ordinary. The sooner you report any suspected fraud, the quicker it can be resolved.
                5. Send bill payments from the post office. A locking mailbox at your house is fine to use as well. You can also use your bank’s online bill pay service, which is more secure than mailing a check.
                6. Check your credit report at least once a year. You are legally guaranteed one free report annually. Look carefully for any irregularities and report them as soon as possible.
                7. Immediately report any lost or stolen cards. Even if you think you know where it is, it’s better to report the card as lost just in case. Check your mail often until the new card arrives. If you don’t receive it within 15 days, call the company. The same goes for any reissued cards you may be expecting.
                8. Shred everything confidential. Especially anything containing your personal or financial information. Even preapproved credit card offers should be destroyed before disposing; having a card issued in your name is a prime way for thieves to glean your information.
                9. Make a list or photocopy of all your credit and debit card numbers, bank accounts, investments, and insurance account numbers with expiration dates and phone numbers for customer service and fraud reporting. Keep it in a secure place, such as a safe. This way you have all the necessary information including contact numbers in case your purse or wallet is stolen.
                10. Write “see photo ID” on the backs of your credit cards in permanent ink. Doing so will hopefully cause merchants to follow your request and catch any would-be users. Don’t grumble when asked for ID. Doing so will only encourage workers to stop checking and you’d hate for it to be your stolen card when an ID wasn’t asked for.

                While this isn’t a completely comprehensive list, following these tips will help prevent identity theft from happening to you.

                Filed Under: Paper Shredding Tagged With: paper shredder, paper shredding machine, shredders, shredding machine, shreds

                Preventing Identity Theft

                June 12, 2010 by Jeff McRitchie Leave a Comment

                343601

                Identity theft is an increasing and constant threat. Here are some tips to help keep you from becoming a victim.

                PIN Numbers:

                There are several hard and fast rules when it comes to safeguarding your PIN numbers. When you are deciding on a PIN, do not choose something that someone can easily guess such as your birthdate or something similar. Often your bank will supply you with a PIN when they issue your ATM card. You might as well take the time to memorize this number rather than replacing it with your own.

                Another rule when it comes to PINs is to never keep it in your wallet. You should, in fact not keep in written form anywhere once you have it memorized.

                Passwords:

                You should change the passwords to your email, PayPal and online banking and credit card accounts quarterly of not more often. Use seven or eight characters and include both numbers and letters or even symbols if they are allowed. If you can avoid keeping your passwords stored on your computer, that would be best, but if there are simply too many to remember, you can keep them in a spread sheet that is named innocuously, or in other words, not “passwords.”

                Snail Mail:

                Take your mail out of the mailbox a soon as you can get to it. Identity thieves steal mail from mailboxes in order to get names, numbers, and even to apply for credit cards in your name. If you stop receiving mail, talk to your local post office immediately. In many cases, signatures have been forged on mail forwarding requests, and the thieves then used credit card statements and solicitations to get credit or run up charges.

                Credit card offers or unsolicited loan applications that you have no intention of using should be thoroughly destroyed in a cross cut paper shredder before you discard or recycle them. You can opt out of receiving credit card offers in the mail. Just search the term “stop credit card offers” and follow the links and instructions.

                Checks and Balances:

                Most banks these days give you the option of receiving your monthly statements via snail mail or by email. Email is the safer way to go, and it saves paper too. Whichever you decide, make sure that you go through your statement and can that you can account for every transaction. The same, of course, goes for your credit card statements.

                You might also want to do a periodic check of your credit rating through one of the major credit bureaus.

                Get A Good Paper Shredder:

                A good paper shredder is your first line of defense when it comes to preventing identity theft. Any documents that contain any sort of personal information should be shredded before they are discarded. Make sure that the shredder you purchase employs a cross cut rather than a strip cut, as the cross cut is much more secure. Items that should be shredded are the aforementioned bank and credit card statements and unused credit and loan applications, anything that contains your name and social security number, or that contains your signature.

                Filed Under: Paper Shredding Tagged With: paper shredder, shredders, Shredding, shredding machine, shreds

                Checking For Identity Theft

                June 12, 2010 by Jeff McRitchie Leave a Comment

                32289012

                With identity theft a growing and persistent problem, you should do everything in your power to keep your information safe. Here are some ways to make sure you are not being victimized.

                Statements:

                Every time you receive a statement from your bank or credit card company, you should go over it with a fine tooth comb. A lot of times identity thieves will only do a little bit of damage before moving on, or will send you bills for companies you have not had nay business with, or will set you up for an automatic bill pay without your knowledge. If you see anything of the sort on your statements, contact the institution in question right away to let them know what is going on.

                Bank statements should be especially scrutinized, as there are many ways to remove money from your account without your immediate knowledge. You could, for instance, have had some checks stolen or had your debit or credit card number lifted from any number of sources. Again, it is worth noting that identity thieves will not necessarily go for the big score all the time, and may just make an occasional purchase that they hope will not be noticed. Look over each and every purchase, withdrawal, and other transaction and make sure that it is something that either you did, or was authorized by you.

                Credit Report:

                At least once a year and perhaps twice, you should make the effort to check your credit report via one or all of the major credit agencies. Take the information they provide you with and give it a good going over. Look for accounts that do not belong to you, loans that you haven’t taken out, and any other sort of transaction that you don’t know anything about. Make note of any inaccuracies and report them immediately to all of the credit agencies.

                Prevention:

                You may be surprised that there is no law against going through another person’s trash. Identity thieves do this on a regular basis to get certain types of documents that you may have carelessly thrown away. The best and easiest solution for this is to purchase a high quality shredder, and to use it on a regular basis. The shredder you buy should shred documents into a confetti-like cross cut pattern rather than long and straight strip cuts, as the cross cut paper shreds are virtually impossible to piece back together.

                Some of the documents that you should shred when you are discarding include, of course, bank statements, credit card statements, credit card and loan applications that you are not going to use, any documents that contain your social security number or signature, and any medical or legal information.

                You should also give serious thought to shredding:

                Address labels, ATM receipts, copies of birth certificates (not the original), canceled, voided, or old checks, and check copies, investment documents, items containing driver’s license numbers, PIN numbers, pay stubs, tax documents (copies, or originals when allowed by law), and expired passports. This list is by no means exhaustive, but should get you started in keeping your mind on ways to keep your identity safe.

                Filed Under: Paper Shredding Tagged With: paper shredder, paper shredding machine, shredders, shredding machine, shreds

                Make Your Cat Happy With Shredded Kitty Litter

                May 22, 2010 by Jeff McRitchie Leave a Comment

                3245001

                Even since identity theft became ridiculously and frustratingly common, the sales of paper shredders have skyrocketed. These machines, which wear once really only used by government agencies and financial institutions, are now found in homes all across North America. A shredder can help you protect yourself from identity theft because it will destroy documents containing your private information (bank statements, credit card offers, etc.). Then you can either recycle the shreds or toss them in the trash. Or, if you’re a cat owner, you can make Kitty happy. Here’s how.

                As you know, the cost of kitty litter can add up over a long period time, especially if you’re one of those conscientious pet owners who religiously scoops and cleans the box every few days. But you can get around buying those big, heavy bags of litter by using your paper shreds instead. Just shred your documents and line your cat’s box with the bits of paper. Be sure to use a lot of paper since cats love to dig. You may want to slowly introduce the paper over a couple of days or weeks because some felines are very finicky about their boxes and any abrupt changes can make them less than happy.

                Some of the paper you can use for this include junk mail, newspapers, old correspondence, and so on. Just be aware that cats may not like the feel of glossy paper, so try to avoid it. (Plus, it won’t be as absorbent.)

                Not only will using your paper shredder to create kitty litter save you money, it can be easier on your cat. Some kitties have very sensitive paws and they may find using the classic clay litter uncomfortable. This is especially true if the animal has recently been declawed. (Note: declawing is a truly barbaric practice that still goes on, unfortunately. If you’re thinking of doing it to your cat, don’t. It’s the equivalent of cutting off a good part of someone’s finger.) Just be aware that paper litter won’t last as long as the clay stuff, so you’re going to need to clean the box a bit more frequently.

                If you give this a try and find that there’s litter all over your house, you can try the following things to make things a bit less messy:

                1. Soak the paper in water with a little bit of environmentally friendly soap. Drain the water and then rinse the shreds sans soap.
                2. Spread some baking soda on the paper and work the powder in. The baking soda will act as a deodorizer.
                3. Squeeze out the water and let the mixture dry. Instant – and cleaner – kitty litter!

                Finally, this can all be can be environmentally beneficial. Paper is totally biodegradable, so it won’t be sitting in a landfill for years and years. Also, you’re reusing something that would probably be thrown in the garbage anyway.

                If you have a paper shredder and a feline (or two or three…), try using your shreds as kitty litter. You’ll be helping the environment, saving money, protecting yourself from identity theft and, best of all, making your cat(s) happy.

                Filed Under: Paper Shredding Tagged With: paper shredder, shred, Shredded Kitty Litter, shredder, shreds

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