Community Shred-it Events: What are they and what are the benefits?

It’s official, Spring has arrived! The warmer weather brings backyard BBQ’s, summer fairs and community shredding events. For those that are not familiar with the term, Community Shred-it events are local events held in your neighborhood that bring awareness to identity theft and business fraud. Shred-it holds multiple shredding community events each year all over North America that provide residents with an opportunity to have their personal documents safely destroyed by bringing them to a predetermined location.

The impact that these events have on a community are great. In just one single day, one local Shred-it event can serve over 2,000 individuals and can recycle over 70 tons of paper. And in 2017, Shred-it co-owned the Guinness World Record for the most amount of paper collected in 24 hours at a shocking 898,931 LBS. Now that’s a lot of paper!

Not only do these community shredding events help give back to your local community, but they allow community members to securely and easily destroy their paper documents while building awareness about how to protect their information. In 2016, 15.4 million consumers reported being a victim to some sort of identity theft. That’s 1 in every 16 adults. If you are not already convinced that attending a local shredding event is a good thing to do, here are other positive benefits of a Community Shred-it event:

1. Shred-it events keep your community safe. Physically discarding your documents is still the best way to keep confidential documents out of the hands of fraudsters. Any document that has personal information on it – such as names, addresses and account numbers - can be used to compromise your identity. That is why it’s important to shred – rather than put these documents into the garbage or recycling bin.

2. Demonstrate a commitment to sustainability. A Community Shred-it event is a great way to securely recycle paper. Shred-it is committed to being environmentally responsible, and that is why we send every piece of paper for recycling after documents are securely shredded. Every ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 400 KWs of energy and 7,000 gallons of water.

Each local Shred-it branch holds their own events or partners with a local business or charity to sponsor an event. To learn more about shredding events click here!