Burning Papers

[Tom Bender]

Today was burn day. About twice a year I put out the 30" fire pit thingy and burn about a 6" stack of papers; bank statements, medical stuff etc. It's about an hour's commitment including cool down and cleanup.

What do you do?

[Lisa Starr]

Shred it each time I open the mail. As long as I keep plastic out, the local animal shelter wants the shredding for bedding.

[Bill Carey]

We burn it as well.

[roger wiegand]

crosscut shredder

[Ronald Blue]

Shred anything with personal info.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

We use a micro-cut shredder and recycle it.

[Patrick McCarthy]

shred, but sometimes use the shredded material as a kindling substitute in the firepit

[Matt Day]

Recycle it.

[Brian Tymchak]

We use a micro-cut shredder and recycle it.

+1. But I don't have any way to burn it (suburbia), or I might do that.

[Jim Koepke]

We often shred things and then recycle.

There is a lot of old financial papers that would take way to long to shred. It has occurred to me that burning might be easier and quicker.

jtk

[Doug Garson]

While burning may be easier it is definitely less environmentally friendly. We recycle paper, shredding anything with personal data. This years fires and heatwaves are a good reminder of why.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Throw everything into a garbage can partially filled with water. After a couple months, the paper soaks up all the water, the writing is illegible, and the pile is a wad of dry paper, placed into the recycling container. It is absolutely zero work.

[Alex Zeller]

I thought one of the reasons to own a woodstove was to get rid of documents with sensitive information.

[Kev Williams]

Twice a year our city brings into the City Hall parking lot 2 large-truck mounted shredders, one for paper, one for any electronic junk. Free to city residents...

[Scott Winners]

Throw everything into a garbage can partially filled with water. After a couple months, the paper soaks up all the water, the writing is illegible, and the pile is a wad of dry paper, placed into the recycling container. It is absolutely zero work.

I very much like this idea. Will trial.

[Curt Harms]

+1. But I don't have any way to burn it (suburbia), or I might do that.

Do they allow fire pits?

[Jim Becker]

No burning here. Sensitive things get shred, either with our own machine and then recycled or taken to a bulk shredding event locally when there is a large volume, such as with our recent move. We no longer get things like statements, etc., on paper, so the volume of need is pretty low compared to even a few years ago.

[Ole Anderson]

I shred the most sensitive papers, but frankly a lot of what you might shred goes into my trash. With garbage trucks struggling to get all of their pickups for the day, no way are those guys going through the trash looking for data. And once it gets to the landfill, same thing. I don't set the stuff out until just before pickup time. Neighbors would come unglued if they ever saw anyone going through anyone's trash. Helps that we live in a good suburban neighborhood. Scrappers know to go through the day before. Ok, I am a bit of a risk taker, always have been.

[Brian Tymchak]

Do they allow fire pits?

Yes they are allowed and 2 of 3 adjacent neighbors use them. I have a sensitivity to smoke and fire pits are too close to the home for me.

[Jim Becker]

Yes they are allowed and 2 of 3 adjacent neighbors use them. I have a sensitivity to smoke and fire pits are too close to the home for me.

Our new house came with a "fire pit" just off the rear patio. A nice local family is picking it up today, as a matter of fact...it's not our thing. Our younger daughter is going to whine about it, however. But she doesn't live here. :)

[Roger Feeley]

Mostly throw the papers away. Sometimes we shred. Sometimes, when I walk the dogs, I’ll grab some sensitive papers and tear them up as we walk. The final step is to put the papers in the duecebag and knead it all together. If somebody wants to pick through the dog poop to get my private document, they probably deserve it.

[Michael Weber]

For some reason our town does not want shredded paper to be recycled so my shredder gets dumped in the trash.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I like the water in a pail idea.
Right now we just shred & toss in the recycle bin.

I despise our shredder since it's so tiny.
A dozen pieces of paper and it's full.

It makes little difference though since each time it's the same game. I toss documents in the waste basket, my wife digs them out and shreds them. As she's emptying the shredder, I get the "You should learn to use the shredder" lecture that turns into an argument - that I eventually meekly lose. Then I'm safe for another few months till the Medicare stuff comes in the mail & it starts all over again.

:) ;) :D

[Doug Garson]

I think Jim made a good point, start by minimizing the paperwork you receive so you have less paper with sensitive information on it, Ole's point is good too. Most of what you burn or shred really has minimal risk if you just recycle it.

[John K Jordan]

Today was burn day. About twice a year I put out the 30" fire pit thingy and burn about a 6" stack of papers; bank statements, medical stuff etc. It's about an hour's commitment including cool down and cleanup.

What do you do?

I used my plasma cutter to make a burn barrel from a stainless steel 55 gallon drum. It should last forever compared to those I've made from normal steel drums which fall apart from the heat after just a couple of years. This one will get red hot on the sides and melt aluminum cans and license plates and glass bottles. I cut the bottom out completely except for a 1" ring to support a grate welded from rebar and set the drum a couple of inches off the ground on four bricks. The fire is gets so hot the grate sometimes softens and sags so I just turn it over occasionally. I cut four air vents in the sides of the bottom. I burn scraps from processing logs into woodturning blanks and sometimes use personal papers to get the fire started.

465145 465146

New heavy-wall stainless steel drums are amazingly expensive but I found these for $50 each behind the local Bubba's Barrels in Knoxville, a bit scratched a dented. Bubba's, BTW, is not what it might sound like - they manufacture high end stainless steel vessels and equipment for the food and brewing industry. They make some beautiful stuff.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

For some reason our town does not want shredded paper to be recycled so my shredder gets dumped in the trash.

Same here. Bagged and trashed, but we have so little that we don't worry about it, despite being a major recycling household...at least based on how filled the recycle bin gets compared to the trash bin. (both the same size...)

[lowell holmes]

I shred the paper and send it to recycle. Our trash collector has a recycle day each week.

[Stan Calow]

A burn barrel is better than the usual backyard fire pit. A barrel gets hot enough to thoroughly burn the paper and the smoke, with less fussing. Neither is exactly legal in our city limits.

I shred but they also stopped taking that as recycle here. I'll use the shreds along with sawdust to soak up water and oil spills. If I feel ambitious, I'll cut off the sensitive info off paper and just shred that.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

There are ways to scan "shreds" and use a computer to put them back together if a crook were really determined. It was actually developed for law enforcement use. We burn. I incinerate old business files too. We have 50 acres and a calm rainy day or calm snowy day is ideal. Folks are so far away, there is no complaint about the smoke.

A neighbor shreds his papers and then adds them to concrete mix in a cement mixer and makes blocks out of the mixture.

[Jim Koepke]

Interesting conversation on this subject.

Burn barrels are not allowed in my area. We do have allowances to burn in small, less than 3', burn pits and up to 10' diameter piles up to 6' high with permits during burn season. The permitted burning is supposed to be only of limbs or other agricultural items from the property where it is being burned. The permits can be downloaded from the state's/county's Clean Air Agency's web site. The areas in town are subject to a permanent burn ban for other than fire pits or BBQs.

In my area most folks have a wood stove for heat. For some of us that is our only source of heat for comfort or cooking when the power is out.

jtk

[Alan Rutherford]

I've destroyed papers in a 5-gallon bucket with water and a paint-mixing drill attachment. It works well as long as you have nothing but paper. You can then recycle it, make fireplace logs or let it rot. The problem was that there was too much that's not paper. Even if you carefully sort out the envelopes, paper clips and staples, there's all kinds of plastic tape, address labels, stickers, etc.

We have boxes of old business records that can be discarded but it's too much for the periodic free shredding or for us to feed through the shredder. Question: do you need a screen to keep flaming pieces of paper from flying out of the barrel?

[Doug Garson]

I would suggest the old drop in the ocean mentality is problematic. Think instead what if 100 million people did it?

[Jim Becker]

There are ways to scan "shreds" and use a computer to put them back together if a crook were really determined. .

True but there would have to be a really, really, really good reason for someone to go to that kind of trouble with someone's household trash...

[Alan Rutherford]

I would suggest the old drop in the ocean mentality is problematic. Think instead what if 100 million people did it?

OK. I removed the problematic statement.

[Doug Garson]

OK. I removed the problematic statement.
Thanks..... :)

[John K Jordan]

I've destroyed papers in a 5-gallon bucket with water and a paint-mixing drill attachment. It works well as long as you have nothing but paper. You can then recycle it, make fireplace logs or let it rot. The problem was that there was too much that's not paper. Even if you carefully sort out the envelopes, paper clips and staples, there's all kinds of plastic tape, address labels, stickers, etc.

We have boxes of old business records that can be discarded but it's too much for the periodic free shredding or for us to feed through the shredder. Question: do you need a screen to keep flaming pieces of paper from flying out of the barrel?

The regulations here are to have a screen on the top. The size of the holes in the screen are not specified.

Feeding loose papers will definitely make some hot pieces float into the air. Burning bound material, not so much. I usually start a fire with cardboard, dump in all my loose papers, then put wood scraps on top. That takes care of most ember problems.

I don't use a screen when I'm standing there watching since I'm usually feeding material and can track and run down any flying embers that threaten to land. I put a screen the top on when I walk away. I use a two overlapping screens of 1/2" hardware cloth. I wait until the fire dies down some since intense quickly heat destroys a screen made from hardware cloth. Some day I'll fabricate one from closely spaced 1/4" rods or thin angle iron (I have a huge stock of that on hand).

I like to burn when the ground is wet after a rain or in the morning dew. If I have to burn in the fall when leave are down I clear a large radius with a rake.

Either way, I prefer to burn at dusk or dark so I can easily see and track any burning embers. Never burned anything unintended, knock on wood.

Note: the heat is so intense that it will damage any overhanging branches, even if fairly high.

JKJ

[Lee DeRaud]

We have boxes of old business records that can be discarded but it's too much for the periodic free shredding or for us to feed through the shredder.What kind of quantity are you talking about? Commercial document shredding is about $1/lb here. IMHO, that wouldn't become cost-prohibitive until long after the sheer hassle required would make burning out of the question. And if you're really cheap, you can spend the time to sort out the forms/boilerplate/etc that typically make up 50%-75% of the pile.

[Alan Rutherford]

What kind of quantity are you talking about? Commercial document shredding is about $1/lb here. IMHO, that wouldn't become cost-prohibitive until long after the sheer hassle required would make burning out of the question. And if you're really cheap, you can spend the time to sort out the forms/boilerplate/etc that typically make up 50%-75% of the pile.

I'll admit to cheap but mostly it's convenience. We have 2 lifetimes of accumulated personal stuff and records and also bunches of client records. Probably not more than 15-20 boxes when it's sorted, but it's not yet. We've been through some of it but there's a lot more, and I'd like to be able to dispose of as much as I have ready, whenever I'm ready to dispose of it. I didn't seriously consider paying for it, but I'll look into it.

[Jim Becker]

Alan, the "office supply" stores typically offer shredding and it's not expensive. It's by weight. It's a good alternative to waiting for a free shredding event when you have a lot of stuff to get sliced and diced. The free events often have a limit to what you can drop; four boxes is common around here.

[Lee DeRaud]

There are ways to scan "shreds" and use a computer to put them back together if a crook were really determined. It was actually developed for law enforcement use.


Alan, the "office supply" stores typically offer shredding and it's not expensive.
As far as I can tell, all the name-brand office-supply places actually sub that job out to the Iron Mountain people. https://www.ironmountain.com/

Which probably means that Iron Mountain is either a Google subsidiary or an NSA front. :)

[Jim Becker]

Iron Mountain is a very well known company for storage and "destructive" services...they are large and have major contracts with the big corporations and government agencies.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

True but there would have to be a really, really, really good reason for someone to go to that kind of trouble with someone's household trash...


I understand some credit card info or bank account info can be worth a couple hundred bucks on the dark web. I have no other idea how much could be gained by it, just that is & can be done. I know a Harrisburg, PA law firm disposed of some case files that contained sensitive client information and one fake tax return for a client cost the tax payers over $5,000.

[Edwin Santos]

Iron Mountain is a very well known company for storage and "destructive" services...they are large and have major contracts with the big corporations and government agencies.

I don't know if this is the case in every city, but in my area, you can simply google mobile shredding and you will come up with a long list of vendors.

Many times these are mom and pop businesses where they have purchased the truck mounted shredding machine. We called one to our office to shred about 50 boxes because nobody was enthusiastic about transporting them anywhere. This couple show up with a truck with one of those lifts like garbage trucks have for wheeled garbage bins. What they did was dump each box's contents into the garbage bin. When full, up it went and dumped into a big industrial shredder. I think they charged us something like $3/box and they were there for all of 20 minutes.
I asked if they come to people's homes and they said absolutely, but there was a minimum charge, I can't recall what it was.

[Lee DeRaud]

Iron Mountain is a very well known company for storage and "destructive" services...they are large and have major contracts with the big corporations and government agencies.(sigh) Yes, I know who they are, they handled all the classified waste in my former career.

"It's a joke, I say, a joke, son!" - Foghorn Leghorn

[Alan Rutherford]

Long, long ago (1960's) I worked for a bank until I realized that really wasn't my thing. We would periodically take boxes of old records to a supermarket and toss them into the incinerator behind the store they burned cardboard in. Can't do that no more.

[Jim Becker]

Sorry, Lee...was in a hurry and missed the humor... :)

[Tim Elett]

If I remember to take it, I sit at the camp fire and toss the big finance books in the camp fire.I have asked to not get them, but I was told I have to get them. They must be a half inch thick. What a waste of money and trees .

[Doug Colombo]

Same here ! Shred (cross cut) and recycle

[Wade Lippman]

I mainly just recycle it; I think an identity thief would regret wasting time on us. Credit reports are locked and nothing on our taxes is refundable.
Sensitive stuff I shred, but there is very little of that.

A few years back I wanted to get rid of a large pile of sensitive stuff. Put in a 10 gallon tub with water and drain cleaner. 6 months later it was all like new, except wet. That didn't work.

[John Terefenko]

We use a micro-cut shredder and recycle it.

I do as Ken does. Micro shredder. Afraid of fires.