It's tax time. Purge your piles of sensitive data in a hurry instead of feeding a personal shredder two sheets at a time. Now through May, there are plenty of free or low-cost shredding options in the Twin Cities.
Louise Kurzeka, a professional organizer with Everything's Together in St. Louis Park, said that finding a free or low-cost paper shredding event has an added benefit.
"It forces people to clear their file drawers," she said.
Sara Pedersen of Time to Organize in Shoreview suggests checking with your bank or credit union for any free shredding events. Some will accept a box or less of material at their branches.
Kurzeka and Pedersen came up with several other options.
Pioneer Secure Shred (155 Irving Av. N., Minneapolis, 612-381-2199) offers free shredding of up to 10 boxes of paper (banker's box sized) on the first Friday of every month from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The next free shredding event will be May 2. If you can't wait until then, a box of paper costs $3 each with a $25 minimum.
Shred Right (651-621-1862) will offer free shredding events open to the public.
Saturday, April 12th: 9am-noon. Shred Right @ US Federal Credit Union. 1400 Riverwood Dr., Burnsville, MN 55337.
Saturday, April 12th: 9am-noon. Shred Right @ US Federal Credit Union. 2772 East 82nd St., Bloomington, MN 55425.
Saturday, April 12th: 9am-noon. Shred Right @ US Federal Credit Union. 4290 Dean Lakes Blvd., Shakopee, MN 55379.
Saturday, April 12th: 9am-noon. Shred Right @ US Federal Credit Union. 6303 Old Central Ave. NE, Fridley, MN 55432.
Saturday, April 12th: 9am-noon. Shred Right @ US Federal Credit Union. 7644 160th St. W., Lakeville, MN 55044.
Friday, April 18th: 9am-2pm. Shred Right @ Washington County. 4039 Cottage Grove Drive, Woodbury, MN 55129. Open to Washington County Residents only.
Saturday, April 19th: 9am-11:30am. Shred Right @ Security Victor Insurance Agency to benefit the Lakes Area Youth Service Bureau. 5357 Wyoming Trail, Wyoming, MN 55092. Donations received will benefit the Lakes Area Youth Service Bureau.
Saturday, April 19th: 9am-noon. Shred Right @ Secured Retirement Association. 5775 Wayzata Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55416.
Saturday, April 26th: 9am-noon. Shred Right @ First National Bank: Honey Locust-Northfield. 1611 Honey Locust Drive, Northfield, MN 55057.
Sunday, April 27th: 10am-4pm. Shred Right @ Earth Fair LaCrosse, Recycling Fair. Emerson Elementary. 2101 Campbell Road, La Crosse, WI. (2 blocks from Earth Fair)
May
Saturday, May 3rd: 9am-11am. Shred Right @ Klein Bank. 8900 Highway 7, St. Bonifacious, MN 55375.
Saturday, May 3rd: 9am-noon. Shred Right @ Bloomington Rotary. Bloomington Public Works Parking Lot, 1700 W. 98th St., Bloomington, MN 55431. All donations benefit the Bloomington Rotary.
Check the website for addresses and additional dates. Box limits may apply.
At Shred Right's St. Paul location, the company will shred up to eight boxes for a fee ($25 plus $3 per box after eight) from 8:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays (no dropoffs between 11-11:30 a.m.). It will also shred electronic media (CDs, tapes) for 32 cents per pound and cellphones and hard drives (removed from computer) for $5 each at its St. Paul location.
OfficeMax, Office Depot and UPS stores offer paper shredding for about 99 cents per pound (a grocery sack filled with paper weighs 10 to 15 pounds). Check for frequent coupons and discounts through April in Sunday circulars, company apps and e-mails, and on their websites. Some UPS stores occasionally offer discounts for AAA members.
Those who have too much paper to haul on their own can hire a service for home shredding. Shred Right charges $65 to come to the home to shred up to 300 pounds or about 10 to 12 boxes. After 300 pounds, the charge is 15 cents per pound.
"Most people bring it to us, but people settling an estate or cleaning out a home office find it convenient," said Don Drapeau, president of Shred Right.
