Hi 👋 how do you all dispose of confidential paperwork like bank letters and things with your address on them?

Posted by Enna40@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 81 comments

We’ve had several shredders that have just broken, and burned stuff before but there has to be an easier, cheaper, more environmentally friendly way of getting rid of mail with personal information in them.

I have actively gone and put all the settings in banks etc. to request no paper statements etc. but there seems there are exceptions where they will send letters or things that aren’t standard now and again. These add up over time and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with them.

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slartybartfast6@reddit

Crosscut shredder and spread the shredding across multiple bin liners

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CraftyWeeBuggar@reddit

I have a cross shredder, i put it out with the cardboard for the council. Shredders are not expensive.

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Mistigeblou@reddit

We either compost or burn all our paper. Which reminds me I need a nice day to get out and make the fire briquettes

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wildflower12345678@reddit

Guinea pig bedding when we had a guinea pig.

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youvechanged@reddit

I make papier mâché Queen Camilla heads.

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Aisha-Was-Nine@reddit

I just throw it in the trash

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youvechanged@reddit

Trash can

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

Trash?

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Norman_debris@reddit

Trash.

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underthesheet@reddit

Burn them in the stove.

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TheTattooedDom@reddit

Near me is a shredding service, £1 / kilo and I can watch it being shredded. Go about once a quarter.

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LaraH39@reddit

https://amzn.eu/d/06r6oEso

Roller stamp. Cheap. Does the job really well.

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Remarkable_Winter-26@reddit

I take of the scraps with anything private and set them on fire in the bbq

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LeTrolleur@reddit

Don't suppose you happen to have a wood burner in your living room?

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Kickkickkarl@reddit

I actually burn all import documents, bank statements etc.

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Arcendiss@reddit

Shred and give the shreddings to the hamster as bedding

If you're prepared to stick shredded, chewed, pee soaked bits of paper back together I'd say you've earned my personal information

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

Shredder. Or burning.

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rising_then_falling@reddit

I don't consider my address to be confidential at all. I regularly hand it out to anyone who wants to come to my house to deliver packages or pick up stuff I've sold to them on ebay or whatever.

I don't really get paper bank statements or anything like that any more, so there is almost no actually confidential data that I put in the bin. When there is, I tear it up into small bits and put it in a public bin precisely so it can't be linked to my address.

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Fibro-Mite@reddit

Destroying the address means that if your letter somehow ends up becoming litter or fly tipped, the council won’t come after you with the fines for it. There are occasionally posts on r/LegalAdviceUK from people this has happened to, either their paper recycling wasn’t secured and a letter blew away and ended up with other dumped rubbish, or a neighbour they had a dispute with may have stolen it from the recycling to out in a bag of rubbish that they then dumped somewhere. The council find the name & address, and will not listen to protestations of innocence. Sometimes it’s an Amazon delivery box or similar rather than a letter.

The moral of the story is to destroy identifying information on anything you throw away.

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

So I can get prosecuted if my recycling blows away because the council deems a small box as suitable for 2 weeks of cardboard and my street is a wind tunnel

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ratscabs@reddit

Yes.

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

That’s ridiculous, especially when the bin men drop shit and don’t pick up, yet the council don’t do shit about the 5 foot high pile of asbestos sheets that were dumped in the lanes

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Unhappy_Clue701@reddit

In and of itself, it’s not confidential. However, a genuine letter from your bank is definitely not a good thing to let get into the wrong hands, as presenting it can be accepted as proof of address or ID.

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Princes_Slayer@reddit

Bought a paper brick press. We have a big bag of sensitive waste and once we have enough, soak until mushy, put into brick press, leave to dry out and burn in the fireplace

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en70uk@reddit

What brick press are you using , most I’ve seen look like they would buckle

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Princes_Slayer@reddit

We bought a metal one over 20 years ago from a garden centre . Does the job perfect but was before the days everything from everywhere being available from Temu/Amazon etc

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pippaskipper@reddit

Rip into bits and put on the compost heap

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Alicam123@reddit

Shred, collect and flame grill in the bbq. 😂

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spank_monkey_83@reddit

I thought it was just me you did this. I tend to remove just the address details and customer account number. On ostal packages I pour boiling water on the address label. If it's been laser printed it disappears. Otherwise I leave it in the sink to soak and rub away the details instead

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

Get a micro cut shredder that makes tiny bits, shred any documents with that then mix thoroughly and dispose of

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hellomynameisrita@reddit

I rip the address and important numbers off, then rip those bits into tiny pieces. I put the main part in recycling, and sprinkle the important bits in the recycling and in various rubbish bins around the house, which will end up being emptied as each gets full. So some will go out soon with the recycling and kitchen rubbish, some later with the bathroom rubbish, some later still with the rubbish from the little bin in the lounge.

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YourLittleRuth@reddit

This, but composting the important bits.

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Particular_Jello_917@reddit

Same here, composting the important bits or adding them to the log basket next to the log burner.

I recycle all the non identifying bits.

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Peterwhite100@reddit

Occasionally set fire to them

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BuncleCar@reddit

I shredded papers and put it in my cat's litter tray. She used it as a bed :(

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Free_Ad7415@reddit

That is so cute, a little nest

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EUskeptik@reddit

After burning out several personal shredders I bought a Fellowes business shredder and it has been excellent.

It was listed at £55 and I think it was worth every penny.

-##-

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Melodic-Tutor-2172@reddit

I have an ink roller that obscures any text. I roll over the important information before I top the paperwork up.

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Free_Ad7415@reddit

I just chuck it in my black bin and never think of it again, no one’s stolen my identity yet

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Able-Necessary2956@reddit

Papier mache. Rip it up, immerse in water, squeeze together, dry, discard.

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FiresidePete@reddit

Rip um up especially name and address but as I have sod all who would bother.

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Coca_lite@reddit

Wood burning stove

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Alien-lifeform666@reddit

I use them to start the fire in my log burner.

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dwair@reddit

Cheap cross shredder. Everything with a name or address on it goes through it. Empty it once every fre months and put it our for recycling in a bag.

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Unhappy_Clue701@reddit

I have a little roller thing that overwrites the address with ink. The surface of the roller is covered in markings that look a bit like letters and numbers. Roll that back and forth a couple of times over the printed name and address, and the original text is completely obliterated. Then just chuck it in the recycling. Brilliant little gadget.

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Sea-Still5427@reddit

Mostly I just tear off the confidential or personal bit and put the rest in the recycling.

One environmentally friendly way is to soak it to soggy pulp in a bucket, stir, then put on the compost heap.

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Kind-Elder1938@reddit

Have you got a compost bin? tear them up roughly and put layers in there in between the green stuff

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SwordTaster@reddit

Scissors.

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AugustCharisma@reddit

We have secure boxes for industrial shredding at work. They say something about being confidential and have just a small slot. I keep a stack of shredding in my office and then about twice a year I bring some from home. I sandwich it between work shredding in case someone sees me and then just put it in (work-home-work shredding). I figure if someone ever came to me and said “hey, why were shredding stuff from Personal Bank?” That they would be in deep trouble for knowing that.

Anything not personal I just recycle (even if my address is on it, just not if there is a bank account number).

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glymph@reddit

I do the same. We probably have the same company provide confidential bins, as your description matches. I'm sure they pride themselves on confidentiality, and my employer doesn't mind us using it for personal stuff, to avoid any of our data getting out, as any kind of compromise would be bad, personal or professional.

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alexdbird@reddit

Same. I have a shredder somewhere, but last clearout I had \~6Kg of confidential paper, would have killed the poor thing.

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Tiny_Size2037@reddit

Shred and compost them

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wakou2@reddit

I once bought a "top-notch" shredder and put five years of un-opened letters through it. One of them looked different and I managed to pull the remnants out. It was a cheque from Her Majesty the Queen, a tax rebate. Handy tip kids.. Open the letters, they are not ALWAYS bad news!

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Cotton-Collar@reddit

You can get an "identity protection roller stamp" that you roll over address and confidential info. Then I rip into smaller pieces and recycle

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moist-v0n-lipwig@reddit

I do a version of this, just using a basic marker pen.

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IcyPuffin@reddit

This is my preferred method. I used to use a shredder, but i got fed up with it clogging up. Stamping over the personal info means i get to do theripping up myself - way more satisfying than a shredder!

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BG3restart@reddit

I do have a shredder, but if it's just a single envelope, I tear off the address part and cut it up using the multi blade, shredding scissors I inherited from my mum when she died. I didn't even know these things existed until I was clearing out my mum's house.

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GlitteringWarthog297@reddit

I have a Rottweiler who loves nothing more than shredding paper into confetti!

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Evolutionary_u-turn@reddit

I soak mine in the washing up water after I'm finished, then mush the pulp into a ball and bin it

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Short-Shopping3197@reddit

I just tear the corner with my address and any details off, rip it up small, then tear up the rest of the paper a few times.

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msmoth@reddit

Shred then compost heap

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the_Athereon@reddit

Basic incinerator bin and a match is how my parents used to do it.

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sequenceOfChars@reddit

Fire.

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Queen_Sun@reddit

I have a heavy duty shredder and the shreddings go into the wormery a few handfuls a month. Then eventually it goes on the garden.

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Guppybish123@reddit

Use them to line the floors on my animal cages (suitable species and setups only) or scrunchie them up and throw them in my roach bin for them to climb around in and destroy

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cardanianofthegalaxy@reddit

Leave the paperwork in a bucket of water overnight, it'll break down and you'll be left with paper gloop to dispose of as you wish.

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dereks63@reddit

Keep buying double cut shredders, might as well get a cheap shit one, I burn them out as well.

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SnooDonuts6494@reddit

IDK; I haven't had a physical letter from a bank for at least 15 years.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

After spending more money on shredders (£40) than I have ever lost to any form of financial crime or identity theft, I just tear stuff up and put it in the recycling.

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TetrisIsTotesSuper@reddit

Shred then give the bits to my son's nursery who gladly accept it for messy play

Or shred and give to local animal shelters for bedding

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Peng_Terry@reddit

radio static yes, subject is still delivering the desired documents to the fronts. Yes, that is a go on the checks notes nursery and animal felter. Sorry, shelter. No, we can probably dial back on the hospital, subject shows no indication of “disposing” there.

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Xenozip3371Alpha@reddit

Shred, then burn.

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qualityvote2@reddit

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