Shredder

Do you shred your old documents? Shredding documents that contain personal and financial information such as birth date, bank account numbers, Tax File Numbers, etc., can reduce the chance of Identity Theft.

Neighbourhood Watch Ku-ring-gai & Hornsby has several shredders for residents to borrow. Thank you to those residents who have donated a shredder. Shredders have a maximum of 5 pages and work for short periods of time such as 15 minutes, to avoid over-heating (a normal occurrence in household shredders). If you have a substantial amount of shredding, we recommend you approach a commercial shredding company for help.

CONTACT US TO REQUEST A SHREDDER(S)

Contact us for the use of a shredder(s). Please then check your JUNK folder for our reply.

Pay-it-forward Scheme

The following is FREE to request. However, as a courtesy to future persons, we do welcome a â€™pay-it-forward’’ contribution from those who can give to the community in this manner. For the shredder(s), we would suggest an appropriate amount would be a gold coin.

One of several shredders available to loan
One of the available shredders for loan

After Shredding

Ku-ring-gai Council suggestion is to box the shredded paper and then put the box in the blue bin for collection.

Some pet shops appreciate bags of shredded paper.

Alternatives to shredding

  • Physically removing the small portion of a document with identifying information, eg the address, rip it by hand, then put it in the normal rubbish bin. The left-over document can then go in paper recycling as normal.
  • Use a thick black pen to write over the personal details.
  • Buy an Identity Protection ‘Security Blackout Ink Roller’ type of product to quickly and easily cover large areas of confidential information. An example of such a product can be found on the ID Theft page of the WatchOut.org.au website.
  • Soak the papers in water, let them dry, then throw them into your paper recycling as normal. PLEASE NOTE: In NSW we cannot throw wet paper into recycling. You must let the papers completely dry out, or the recycling centre machines get clogged.
  • Tear up small batches of documents into strips and add to your compost. The worms love it!

Donation of shredders

We are always in need of more shredders. They break. Please consider donating any shredder to us – a friendly volunteer will happily collect. A great way to help the community.