How To Save On Shipping Using Shredded Paper!
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Need a paper shredder? Bid on mine!

Champion 6 Page Strip Cut Home/Office Document Shredder
 

The Paper Shredder

Paper shredders are used to cut paper into very fine strips or tiny paper chips. Government organizations, businesses, and private individuals use shredders to destroy private, confidential, or sensitive documents. Privacy experts often recommend that individuals shred bills, credit card and bank account statements, and other documents that could be used by thieves to commit fraud or identity theft.

Types Of Shredders

Shredders range in size and price from small and inexpensive units meant for a few pages, to large units used by commercial shredding services that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and can shred millions of documents an hour. Some shredders used by a commercial shredding service are built into a shredding truck.
These machines are classified according to the size and shape of the shreds they produce. The primary type of cut we want to produce is the "strip-cut" which is very well suitable for packaging material as it provides light-weight cushioning and support. Other types of shredders can be used but are not as effective as using the "strip-cut" method.

• Strip-cut shredders use rotating knives to cut narrow strips as long as the original sheet of paper. These strips can be reassembled by a determined investigator, so this type of shredder is the least secure. It also creates the highest volume of waste.
  
• Cross-cut or confetti-cut shredders use two contra-rotating drums to cut rectangular, parallelogram, or diamond-shaped shreds.
  
• Particle-cut shredders create tiny square or circular pieces.
  
• Disintegrators and granulators repeatedly cut the paper at random until the particles are small enough to pass through a mesh.
  
• Hammermills pound the paper through a screen.
  
• Pierce and Tear Rotating blades pierce the paper and then tear it apart.
  
• Grinders A rotating shaft with cutting blades grinds the paper until it is small enough to fall through a screen.
  

There are also alternative shredders that use burning, chemical decomposition, or composting for disposing of the shreds. However, NONE of these methods are to be used to produce packaging material!

If You Are Shipping Large Volume I Reccomend Shredder Trucks As A Source For Shredded Paper...

A mobile shredding truck is a box truck with an industrial sized paper shredder mounted inside the box, typically in the front section of the box, closest to the cab. The box is divided into two sections: the shredding equipment area, and the payload area for storage of the shredded materials. These trucks have been designed to shred up to 8,000 lbs of paper an hour. Mobile shredding trucks can have a shredded material storage capacity of 6,000 to 15,000 pounds of shredded paper. Office paper is the typical material being shredded, but with increasing security concerns customers also request shredding of CDs, DVDs, hard drives, credit cards, and uniforms, among other things. There are many manufactures for mobile shredding trucks, while only a few are among those that design equipment in house. Try contacting companies that actually use these mobile shredding trucks or the shredding companies themselves to talk about taking the waste product off their hands, I'm sure they would be more than happy to give it away!

Injury Risk With Residential Shredders

As with any motorized cutting equipment, there is a risk of injury. Small residential shredders are becoming more and more common. These shredders, although designed with a narrow opening to the cutting wheels, still pose a danger to pets and small children. Many home shredders can be left in a "stand-by" mode that will start the cutting process when anything is inserted into the feed slot. In homes with small children or pets, simply keeping the shredder unplugged while not in use can greatly reduce any risk. ALSO, no running with scissors! Just kidding! Just remember to use your common sense and you should be alright!

Ok, So Now What?

First you might want to find a shredder if you haven't already gotten one.

Here is an example of what mine looks like:

 
If you don't already have one click on the following link to find a paper shredder on eBay! Now you might want to find some sort of large cardboard box to contain all your shredded paper.

Again, here is an example of what mine looks like:

 
This is the easy part! You can find a large cardboard box for free just about anywhere. Check around at your local grocery stores to see if they have any boxes they would be willing to give you. If worst comes to worst and you just can't find a box... don't be cheap! Just buy one for crying out loud! It will save you money in the long run anyhow.

Always be sure that your documents are shredded completely. You don't want some jigsaw master piecing together your bank account statements so that he can purchase himself an island in Tahiti do you? ALWAYS before packing material with your shredded paper, remember to stir around the contents of your large cardboard box so that the shredded paper will be seperated and will make it much more difficult to piece your documents together. ALWAYS make sure that your papers are cut perpindicular to the text! NOT parallel! This will make the texts of your document impossible to fit back together.

When packing place a small layer of shreddings in the bottom of the package. Then place the item your are shipping in the package. Now pack shreddings firmly around your item, but not too tight! Now place another light layer of shreddings on top of your item.

Voila! You did it! You just packaged your item without having to spend a fourtune on packing peanuts! Hope this helps and thanks for looking! If you find this guide useful please let me know so by voting for it!

Thanks a lot!
-Brett (BAStroud1987)

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Other Uses For Shredded Paper:

• Gift packaging/wrapping
  
• Stuffing pillows
  
• Moving
  
• Recycling
  
• Starting fires
  
• Composting
  
• Mulching
  
• Craft supplies
  
• Gift baskets
  
• Easter baskets
  
• Animal bedding
  
• 99+ Other Uses!
  

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