Our ‘green’ environmental efforts could be putting our safety at risk.

Unknowingly, we could be opening ourselves up to the risk of identity theft when we lump all our personal papers into the recycling basket.How many times do you whisk the discarded junk mail into the recycling bin?Or spring clean and then load up armfuls of old papers into the local green skip? 

Recycling is vital but careful vigilance of how and what we throw out is vital for our own safety. Our good intentions may be having the opposite effect - and be harmful to our own safety.

Identity theft is said to be one of the fastest growing crimes around the globe and it knows no boundaries, affecting people from all walks of life from celebrities and politicians to the ordinary person.

Every minute, someone in America falls prey to identity fraud, while across the ocean in the UK, 2008 figures from the Identity Fraud Steering Committee put identity fraud costing that economy 1.2 billion pounds in a single year.Even the Federal Reserve Bank chairman, Brian Bernanke was caught up in a multi million dollar fraud after his wife’s purse was stolen.No-one is exempt.

Take the time to have an in-depth look at some of the junk mail in your mailbox.It may surprise you to see how many times your personal details are repeated.  Throwing those intact into an easily accessible recycling bin gives criminals more than one opportunity to target you.

Anne Prince of established Perth print finishing supplies company, Laidlaw, says a simple home shredder can be all that it takes to stay out of reach of criminals.”A home shredder is a high quality yet inexpensive piece of equipment and should be considered an essential domestic appliance along with the fridge, TV and washing machine. 

“We’re very good at cutting up our old credit cards,” she said.”But we’re not very diligent about cutting up the accompanying letter and envelope which also contains important personal details.” It’s as easy as ABC to buy an entry-level strip cut shredding machine to use in the home which can happily handle plastic, staples and credit cards but it’s best to purchase from a professional supplier like Perth print finishing supplies and equipment company, Laidlaw as they offer excellent customer service and support.

Two types of shredding machines can be used at home, strip cut or cross-cut.Anne suggests that documents should be fed into strip cut machines from the top to the bottom and not sideways, as information can still be read in some of the strips.Some of the material that should be cut into shreds include medical records, household accounts, income tax information and bank statements.

Shredding doesn’t have to have any negative impact on our recycling efforts either.It can still be recycled - only it’s safe from criminals !   

“The scale of identity fraud is staggering,” Prince says.”Prevention is by far a better route than facing the mammoth job of sorting it out after the event.If you don’t want to find your life in shreds, it’s worth talking to [1] Perth shredding machine supplier, Laidlaw, for professional advice on what equipment is best suited to your needs.You can still be green without seeing red.”