People are starting to shred junk mail

Everyone in the nation is inundated with junk mail.  It is estimated that over 4 million tons of junk mail is produced, which is approximately 100 lbs of junk mail for every family in the U.S.  This is caused some people to suggest a more environmental friendly solution to simply discarding the unwanted mail in the trash.  The solution:  package your junk mail in a box, and ship it to one of the many service companies that specialize in shredding and then recycling paper.  These services usually charge somewhere around a dollar a pound to send you documents through a paper shredder, which will ultimately save the material from finding its way into the nations municipal dumps.

Another alternative is to purchase a home paper shredder, and shred the junk mail yourself.  The paper can then be turned over in the soil or composted, which is an equally environmentally friendly way of disposing of this paper trash.  Some people are even using the the shredded paper as animal bedding, which is a clean alternative to pine and cedar shavings, and with all the unwanted mail that is received yearly, you should have a copious supply material with which to work. 

Whichever way you choose, you will definitely help reduce the amount of municipal waste, and if you own a home paper shredder already, you now have another great source of compost.

You should also consider your amount of use.  The less expensive units are adequate for several pages per day, but will likely be overtaxed if used for constant multiple sheet shredding.  Each manufacturer advises on the maximum amount of pages per day that their equipment will handle.  Follow their guidelines, and you will extend the life of your shredder.

Price is always a consideration, but beware.  Know that the more expensive units do have added value over their less expensive counterparts.  Cheaper paper shredders often use more plastic, while the shredding components of a good home office paper shredder have metal shredding parts.  Also check to see if the unit you have can shred credit cards, dvds and cds, as well as staples.  Those that can are usually more robust, and will give you long life on basic paper shredding needs.

Be sure to check if the trash bin beneath the unit will accept trash, without having to shred it.  This will eliminate the need for a second trash can in your office that will simply take up more space.  And the larger the shredding bin is, the more security you will have.  It is far easier to reconstruct 10 shredded sheets of paper than 100.

Remember, paper is very abrasive, and a shredder must be made well to withstand shredding thousands of sheets of paper.  An inexpensive paper shredder is made for intermittent use.  If you suspect that you will shred documents daily, spending a few more dollars now will most likely save you from having to replace your home office shredder in the near future.