Are Spiral-Bound Notebooks Acceptable In With My Shredding?

According to Cambridge.org, a spiral notebook is “a book of paper for writing that is held together by a wire that curves around and around through small holes at the edge of the paper.

Of course, the paper and the cardboard cover are recyclable, shredable items, but the metal spiral binding is questionable in both respects.

Can I Put Plastic Binders In With My Shredding?

Plastic spiral binding, also called comb binding, “is one of many ways to bind pages together into a book. This method uses round plastic spines with 19 rings (for US Letter size) or 21 rings (for A4 size) and a hole puncher that makes rectangular holes. Comb binding is sometimes referred to as plastic comb binding or spiral comb binding.”

Since these binders are made of plastic, some recycling centers will accept them in their recycling bins. Shredding them may be a bit of a different story.

Can I put Hanging File Folders In With My Material To Be Shredded?

The hanging folder has metal hooks on all four corners that slide over a rail. Hanging folders can be used to file one or more manila folders or can be used to put loose sheets directly into the hanging folders, themselves.

When documents need to be retrieved, the corresponding manila folder or paper is removed from the hanging folder, leaving hanging folder, itself, in its place on the rails.

Compliance...It's No Small Matter

August 1st, 2012 from the St. Louis Post Dispatch, “court documents containing personal information
of court respondents sat for weeks in a dumpster outside a Madison County building.”

August 2nd, 2012 from News Channel 7 in Spartanburg-Greenville, NC, “a tax preparer who closed her business three years ago says she unknowingly dumped boxes of records recently, some of which included personal information.”

Electronic Pickpocketing

How Do We Protect Ourselves From High-Tech Hackers?

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 72.1 percent of American consumers in the United States owned at least 1 credit card in 2012. Modern thieves can purchase powerful scanners for less than $100 that can wirelessly retrieve your credit card information from up to 25 feet away! If you’re not scared yet, for just $300 more, they can buy a device that replicates your credit card.

What Makes An Expert? Glad You Asked...

On my TV, it’s usually shows like ESPN, The Weather Channel, HGTV, Discovery Channel and WGN, if the Cubs are playing.  Well, that was until my two college sons came home this summer and now it’s more like Swamp People, Storage Wars, Ball Boys and Pawn Stars, at least when they’re home. 

One of the things that fascinates me is when an item is brought in for sale and nobody really knows what it’s worth…..until, they call in an expert.

How Do I Destroy Old Credit Cards?

By now, most people know that they should keep their important papers safe and some ways to keep documents containing sensitive information from inadvertently falling into the wrong hands.

Shredding personal documents is almost always the way to go…and the bigger the pile of shredded material to add it to, the better. But what about credit cards, themselves?