The Environmental Impact of Document Destruction

Many people have asked me over the years how recycling their shredded paper impacts the environment in a positive way.  Here is why that’s such a good question---we all know that the knowledge of a securely destroyed document is one bookend of the event, responsibly conserving our nation’s natural resources is the other.  

For example, when Integra Certified Document Destruction recently partnered with the Elkhart Chamber of Commerce and the Elkhart County Solid Waste Management District for the annual Clean Your Files Day, our goal for the 350 people that showed up was to provide the peace of mind that is inherent with destroying items like old files, tax records, cancelled checks and the like.   But, that’s only half of the story.

Here is the other half…..the collection of over 40,000 pounds of paper in a single day must make a difference, and it does in a very big way.   Should you wonder how 20 tons of shredded and recycled paper will directly affect the environment, let these numbers sink in:

Saved were       

336 trees
7,515 gallons of oil
59 cubic yards of landfill space
79,110 kilowatts of energy
138,442 gallons of water while preventing 1,187 pounds of pollution entering the air!!

So, remember that when you bring your files to the 2013 Clean Your Files Day and have them destroyed by a professional destruction firm such as Integra, you are not only protecting yourself from identity theft, you are being environmentally minded, which is a very good thing for all of us!
 
Environmental Utility Coordinator for the Elkhart Indiana Environmental Center