Alternatives to paper shredding machines include the following: making a new piece of paper, recycling the paper, and burning the paper.
Identity theft is a huge problem due to the rising capability of crooks to obtain important data from unwary victims. Thus, many individuals have been buying paper shredding machines for home and office use. Nevertheless, you don’t need to purchase these pricey devices since there are other options for keeping your information protected, and which are just as effective, too. Read this article to know some paper shredder alternatives.
Create a new piece of paper
Skip the paper shredding machine but protect yourself from identity theft just the same by creating a new piece of paper from your old bills and other documents that contain your important information. To do this, begin by cutting the piece of paper into little squares, approximately an inch in size. Next, soak these scraps of paper in hot water for a couple of hours, or even overnight. After which, prepare your food processor or blender and fill half of it with lukewarm water. Next, dump in the drenched pieces of paper into the food processor or blender and turn the blender on. Don’t forget to close the lid so you don’t splatter little pieces of soaked paper all over the place. Blend it until the texture of the paper has turned mushy, or slurry. Then, pour the pulp into a big container and fill it with water, just enough to let the pulp disperse well. Next, get or create a frame out of an old and unused picture frame and cover this tightly with a nylon stocking. Slide this frame onto the basin and fill it with the mushy material. Take the frame out of the container with the pulp in it and let it dry. You may also adorn your paper with little flower petals or leaves by mixing these with the mush.
Recycle the paper
You can simply reuse the old pieces of paper that are no longer essential. There are numerous ways that you can recycle paper. For one thing, you can make them into small notebooks that you can put beside the telephone to write down important messages. You can use them to write down your shopping list. The ways are endless. To do this, first you need to cut away any essential data, like your social security number, bank account number, as well as other important details about you. Carefully destroy these tiny pieces of paper that you cut away that have your information. Then, cut the remaining part of the pieces of paper into the size that you want. Just make sure that you cut the pieces of paper into the same size for each purpose, so they will look neat as you pile them together. Then, staple or put a paper fastener on top of them so that they all stay neatly together.
Burn the pieces of paper
You can also simply burn the pieces of paper you no longer need that have vital information. During winter season, not only will you be able to keep warm next to a tiny fire, but you will also be properly destroying pieces of paper and safeguarding yourself from identity theft. Remember, though, that scraps of paper burn very easily, and if you’re not cautious, you could injure yourself. Just make a small fire and feed the fire 1 piece of paper at a time so it will be very easy for you to regulate the flame until all the pieces of paper are gone.
With just a little imagination and determination, we can continue to keep our family and ourselves safe from identity thieves without purchasing expensive devices. Sometimes, we can even help save our planet by recycling some of our old and unused materials at home.
