Thursday, January 20, 2011

I think I can recommend this shredder

Now that I don't have access to an office shredder, I wanted to order a little home-sized (and home-priced) shredder for all the occasional mail, documents, and expired credit cards, that should be shredded as well as the box of stuff I was overdue on shredding:


I found this Aurora AS810SD model for less than $30 on Amazon (free shipping--hooray!):


It went through that box of stuff pretty quickly, without any jams:


I know that I was supposed to get the kind of shredder that does the cross-cut but they were pricier, larger, and louder. And this was definitely a step up from my previous identity theft prevention measure: tearing up a document and putting the various hand-torn pieces in different garbage receptacles in the house.

But I did add this measure:


Adding coffee grinds and other garbage juice to marinate my shreds.

On a side note, for those that are wondering why I'm not recycling the shreds--our recycling system resembles a big unlidded plastic tub where everything (specific plastics, glass, and paper) goes. One reason I don't put these shreds in the bin is that they just might fly out of the tub, littering the neighborhood. Another is adding the annoying task, of pulling the paper shreds off the plastic and glass, to the recycling driver who sorts all the glass, plastic, and paper by hand into the separate bins on his truck. And finally, in the big, practiced scheme of things, it will be very onesie-twosie each week--just enough shredding to cling to a bottle and annoy the recycler.

Anyhoo, unless this thing craps out or spontaneously combusts soon, I give this shredder a B+. Great value, great size for home use--just wished it cross-cut.

1 comment:

Pound said...

um, did you think about emptying the shredder into a bag first, then dumping it into in the bin? and yes i only believe in cross cut. the straight strips make me nervous. too easy to piece together. i've seen it on csi.