Believe it or not, there are actually wrong ways you can destroy documents. While it may seem silly to consider, disposing of documents in the right way will be a huge time saver and, potentially, lifesaver, in the long run. Whether you are destroying personal sensitive documents, or professional, it’s important you always consider whose hands those documents could potentially fall in.
That is not to encourage worrying or fearmongering, but awareness. Always be aware of your habits. Let us show you why paper shredding is the best way to go when it comes to protecting your information after you do not need it in paper form anymore. These are ways you should not destroy sensitive documents, by comparison:
1. Pulping paper
You may have heard of this method of destroying documents before. The process is both time-consuming and unsecure. Those are the top reasons it is not recommended compared to paper shredding. If the wrong form of liquidation is used to churn your documents in a large tub or trashcan, they can easily be retrieved and revived in the wrong hands.
You can never be too careful, especially when it comes to destroying confidential documents, whether it be personal bills or company expense reports. Whatever the case, be mindful of your method of eradication. You can never be too cautious.
2. Burning documents
Yes, burning documents seems like a great way to destroy them permanently, and while the results are lasting, the effects on the environment are even more so. With the eco-friendly solutions that paper-shredding now offers as it sends to recycling plants, burning seems like an easy way out.
You should also consider the hazard it poses if the fire is uncontrolled. With unpredictable weather patterns at bay in many parts of the world, it is good to be safe in respect to your own physical wellbeing as well as that of your sensitive documents.
3. Burying documents
Believe it or not, some people actually do this. This is perhaps one of the worst ways to destroy sensitive materials. Because of erosion or other natural phenomena, the unpredictability of this method of eradication is too zany to follow through with. Do not do it. Need we repeat? Do not do it.
The time and work you will put into doing this will never be worth it in the end, nor will the back pain and pain in the behind it will cause as documents start to resurface and become visible again. You are not in a crime movie. Stop this nonsense.
4. Throwing them away without touching them
This is perhaps the most obvious way to never destroy documents. Though you may think that documents become destroyed simply by sitting in a pile of garbage, do not so easily lie to yourself. Sensitive documents are your responsibility to properly dispose of.
Shredding remains the best option among all of those you should never do by comparison. Shredding them properly will offer you lifelong security is the most environmentally-friendly and economic solution offered on the market today.