What is a good way to get rid of a whole lot of paper that might contain confidential information?

I am able to burn my documents, but I live out where that’s allowed.

The easiest solution would be to burn it all but I guess it is not allowed in your country. The other option would be to soak it all in water and sell it to a paper mache factory. Usually, these places take dry paper and soak it themselves. They use some chemicals in water which makes the entire mass into a soggy shapeless lump in just a few days. Since your papers have confidential data, you can maybe request them to do that soaking in your presence? Or maybe, ask them to loan you some of those chemicals so that you can do the soaking and they can pick up the lump after the stipulated time? Well, I don’t even know if you have a paper mache unit near your place but why don’t you check? If you can’t burn, turning it into a soaking mass is the next best option.

Many banks/financial institutions will hold a “supper shredder day”, where they bring in one of those ginormous industrial-sized paper shredders. These events are usually free-of-charge and open to anyone whether they a customer of that particular bank or not. Keep your eyes peeled. You might have to wait a little while, but I’m guessing you’ll find at least a handful of the events in your area each year.

According to this (point 2):
http://www.atyourbusiness.com/blog/5-secure-alternatives-to-shredding-paper-documents/
You can use bleach.

@Darth_Algar Yes, that just reminded me that AARP does that a couple times a year around here. They will take hard drives, paperwork, laptops and anything that might have confidential material on it. AARP sponsors it, but it is open to everyone. It’s outside, you pull up and they take it for you.
@Jeruba you may try to look on their website or give them a call to see if that’s available where you live.

My old girlfriend had two dozen boxes of records from her work as a psychotherapist. I took it all to a records destruction place in Berkeley CA, watch it all get shewed up into confetti.

Didn’t cost too much (like $4 or so per box). There are a lot of such places around. Look on line or in the Yellow Pages under “Records Destruction.”

Get a 55 gallon drum that has had the top removed. Stand it on end with the open end up, put the papers inside and strike a match. Nothing to it!

@kritiper don’t think you can have open burning California, been that way for a long time.

@Jeruba contact Iron Montain they do shredding by the pound to tons. There are other companies too.

And @Jeruba . . .“Not even doctors’ offices seem to mind putting old patient records in the Dumpster out back, and now you’ve lost control of your personal information, with no such thing as a warning notice to you.”
That is a HIPPA violation.

“Under HIPAA, protected health information is considered to be individually identifiable information relating to the past, present, or future health status of an individual that is created, collected, or transmitted, or maintained by a HIPAA-covered entity in relation to the provision of healthcare, payment for healthcare services, or use in healthcare operations.”
- HIPAA Journal

@Tropical_Willie, that doesn’t mean that nobody does it.

If you have a fireplace, or a friend or relative with a fireplace, bring it there and burn it legally and effortlessly.

@Jeruba Rent a shredder!

I would second @Tropical_Willie‘s recommendation of _Iron Mountain _. I’ve worked at several places, small and large, who have used them.

@Jeruba ”...that doesn’t mean that nobody does it…”

I’m sure it may happen but that is a 4-alarm epic HIPAA no-no. It’s like a commercial pilot flying a 747 full of passengers with a BAC of 0.2%. I’m sure it may happen, but one would hope it’s exceedingly rare.

I agree with others about using a shredding service. In my citycity, 2x per year they host an event where you can recycle electronics and they also have a shredding service as well. It might be worth checking to see if there are similar events in your area.

Side Q: Are nursing homes and retirement facilities subject to the same legal restrictions? Maybe the documents I saw more than once (with way too much information on them) were from a place like that and not a medical office.

At any rate, I’m talking about more than a dozen very full file drawers, several of them deep, and each of which would require three to four file storage boxes to transport. That’s at least three dozen boxes. This is no little fireplace job, much less a tub-of-water with bleach job. I can get some help to move them, but it’s up to me to figure out where and how. So thanks for all suggestions.

I did check into the excellent bank/AARP suggestion, but AARP says they have canceled all in-person events, including recycling events, for the foreseeable future. I don’t remember seeing something like this with a local bank, but I will ask.

@Jeruba

Any establishment dealing in healthcare of any kind is subject to HIPAA laws.

Well, I know what I saw, and I was shocked.

Also in one doctor’s office I was handed a visit summary after my appointment, and later I saw that another patient’s summary was stapled behind it.

UPS provides a shredding service which they charge by the pound.

My wife and I have the same issue. We just moved, and I told her I have a huge bunch of paper, mostly related to past tax returns that I no longer need.

Based on the answers here, I googled AARP Shredding Event near Los Angeles. I did not find anything coming up soon. However, I was able too confirm that they do have such events from time to time. I would think soon after April 17…

Otherwise, we may just take our documents to the local UPS store which has a sizable shredder. No idea what the cost is.

Spread the paper out into a garden and wet thoroughly. When it dries just enough to not stick to the tines, rototill it into the garden’s soil.

I have found out that the local UPS store charges about a dollar a pound. A rough estimating guide is that a copy paper box of 8–½ X 11 sheets costs about $30.

Update:

Ha. I live near a building that houses some county offices. Today I noticed that a big truck with the name of a shredding service on the side was in their parking lot. I had flash of nerve, just long enough to get my shoes on and throw my accumulated reviewed old financial docs in a grocery bag. (I’ve been carefully separating the hot stuff from recyclables such as envelopes and annual reports.)

I walked over and asked the driver in the cab if he’d take $10 to throw my paper in with stuff he was already shredding. He said he couldn’t take the cash, but he’d take the docs. So he unlocked a bin and tossed my whole bag in, and he refused the $10. He also said he’d be back in two weeks and I could bring him some more if I wanted.

There’s a corner of my mind that says if he unlocked it once, he can unlock it again, but bank records from 16 years ago and statements from obsolete accounts are probably not good for very much anyway.

If someone drains my accounts this week, I’ll know this was a bad idea. But meanwhile I’m feeling pretty smart.

Thanks for all suggestions above. I expect that as things go along, I’ll be using more than one of them

Their reputation would be ruined if something like that happened plus they would be sued. They are in business to be in business. You are safe.

Hire professional shedder to bring truck to your house and pick it up for shredding. Cities have “shredding days,” where a truck parks in a central location and citizens can unload all of the boxes of paper they want to to be shredded at no cost. My little town doesn’t but my last city did.

I have another idea. Put it in a grocery bag or other disposable and then pile your most disgusting garbage in on top of it, smelly leftover potato salad, black banana peels, moldy soup, slimy spinach leaves, whatever is rotting in the back of the fridge—dump it in there and put it out with your week’s trash pickup. Nobody will want to poke through that for a look at your 2018 doctor’s and phone bills. Hope your credit card bills and bank statements are well buried though.