To shred or not to shred?

We have a shredder but usually I just cut up with scissors, much finer strips and no chance of piecing together again.

Make sure it is a cross shredder
And be prepared to renew it about every 14 months - they never last long, however expensive!

Cross shredder - ours is more of a small business sized one and is fantastic. Had ours for a few years and still going strong. Love that it is able to shred up to 7 sheets at a time.

We shred before throwing important paper work away but it can't be put in the recycling here in Lambeth. I don't know why but it seems a shame?

I shred then dig it into the compost heap.

I ordered a cheap strip shredder from Ebay because I put the bits in my compost bin, but I was sent an expensive crosscut one by mistake, which the seller said to keep! For the odd single sheet I use shredder scissors.
I think you get what you pay for normally, the cheaper ones can soon burn out.

Cross shredder here too . We used to have plain strip shredder until I watched a tv show and it was reported that criminals would sit and patiently stick the thin strips together to get personal details .

Well burning is just as final if you have the facilities. we shred but if you have a lot of stuff it will take ages and wear out your shredder. I would burn if I had the space.

Dannirae I think the shredded paper jams up the machinery and that's why we can't put it in recycling.

Rip it up in bits then put it in a bowl with cleaning fluid or bleach and water. Leave it over night then squeeze into balls let it dry a bit like paper mache then put it in recycling or bin.

We roll up confidential papers etc into tight rolls and use them as kindlers for the wood burner in the winter. In the summer we either use the strip shredder for hens and the wormery, or the cross-cut shredders for the compost heap.

I bought two expensive shedders both of which clogged dreadfully and died.
I replaced them with a small cross shredder which cost no more than £15 from ASDA. It is still going well. You do need to empty it more often but I am impressed.

My shreddings go on our compost heap .

We burn ours in the fire pit outside - I was surprised how clean it seemed to burn - and it does a thorough job!

Like Nelliemoser our sheddings go onto the compost heap, either pour water on them or dump compost on top to stop them blowing aways.

Burn mine in the chimmenee ( sit round it nice n toasty)

I have found a cheap shredder very reliable, as long as I take the trouble to remove staples and not to shred more than two pieces of paper at a time. I bundle the shreds into a plastic bag and put them in with the ordinary household rubbish.

I do the same with expired plastic cards (bank cards etc) after cutting them through diagonally with the kitchen scissors, but I do take care to cut through our social security numbers and dates of birth and throw the two halves out on separate bin days, so no-one can reconstruct these details, or a bank account number either.