Alternatives to paper shredders include the following: making a new piece of paper, reusing the paper, and burning the paper.

Identity theft is a huge problem because of the rising capability of criminals to acquire vital data from unsuspecting victims. Hence, many individuals have been getting paper shredding machines for home and office use. However, you don’t have to get these pricey gadgets since there are substitutes for keeping your information safe, and which are just as effective, too. Read this article to know some paper shredder alternatives.

Create a new piece of paper

Ditch the paper shredding machine but safeguard yourself from identity theft just the same by creating a new piece of paper out of your old bills and other documents that have your important data. To do this, start by cutting the piece of paper into tiny squares, about an inch in size. Then, dip these pieces of paper in warm water for a couple of hours, or maybe even overnight. After which, prep your blender or food processor and fill one-half of it with warm water. Then, pour in the soaked pieces of paper into the blender and turn the mixer on. Don’t forget to close the cover so that you don’t splatter little pieces of soaked paper all over the place. Blend it until the consistency of the paper has turned pulpy, or slurry. Then, pour the pulp into a big container and fill it with water, just enough to let the pulp scatter well. Next, get or make a frame out of an old and unused picture frame and cover this securely with a nylon stocking. Put this frame onto the basin and fill it with the mushy material. Take the frame out of the container with the mush in it and let it dry. You may also adorn your paper with tiny flower petals or leaves by mixing these with the pulp.

Reuse the paper

You can simply recycle the old scraps of paper that are no longer important. There are numerous ways that you can recycle paper. For one thing, you can make them into small notebooks that you can place beside the telephone to jot important messages. You can use them to write down your grocery list. The uses are limitless. To do this, first you need to cut away any important data, like your social security number, bank account number, and other essential details about you. Carefully destroy these tiny pieces of paper that you cut away that have your information. Then, cut the remaining part of the pieces of paper into the size that you want. Just make sure that you cut the pieces of paper into the same size for each purpose, so that they will look orderly as you pile them together. Then, staple or put a paper fastener on top of them so that they all stay neatly together.

Burn the pieces of paper

You can also simply burn the scraps of paper you no longer need that contain important information. During winter season, not only will you be able to stay warm next to a small fire, but you will also be properly destroying pieces of paper and safeguarding yourself from identity theft. Remember, though, that pieces of paper burn very quickly, and if you’re not cautious, you could hurt yourself. Just make a tiny fire and feed the fire just one piece of paper at a time so that it will be very easy for you to control the flame until all the scraps of paper are gone.

With just a little creativity and determination, we can continue to keep our family and ourselves safe from identity thieves without purchasing pricey gadgets. Sometimes, we can even help save our planet by recycling some of our old and unused materials at home.