4 Reasons You Should Shred Old Documents
Among your many daily responsibilities as an office employee or business owner, shredding documents can appear insignificant. However, there are countless practical reasons (and legal obligations) for disposing of old papers at your workplace. Furthermore, it’s beneficial to shred non-business-related documents lying around your home.
These are the four main reasons why you should shred old documents.
Legal Obligation
For law firms, healthcare institutions, and financial providers, shredding documents is sometimes a legal requirement. Laws such as HIPPA, FACTA, SOX, and GLB demand you dispose of forms that contain sensitive information.
Surprisingly, document theft does occur often. Depending on the scale of this crime, businesses face millions of dollars in fines.
Space Saving
Whether they’re stored at the office or stashed in a box in the corner of your attic, shredding old documents saves you significant amounts of space.
Benefits in the Office
Workflow is more productive and efficient when employees don’t spend valuable time sorting through old or unnecessary paperwork. Studies have shown that an over-cluttered workplace reduces the morale of employees.
Benefits in Your Home
Don’t allow piles of old documents to overtake your storage areas. We all know the feeling of dread when you can’t find a specific photo or legal document after hours of sifting through boxes. Maintaining a well-organized home makes your life easier and is one of many excellent reasons you should shred old documents.
Shredding benefits your work life and home life and streamlines the process of paper hunting. It’s straightforward and saves you time.
Environmental Help
Disposing of old documents isn’t only brilliant; it’s also a responsible way to care for the environment. There are many services that will take your shredded paper to recycling plants and repurpose them into more paper, toiletries, and even building materials.
Shredding is infinitely more environmentally conscious than throwing away old paper; nearly one billion trees worth of paper are wasted each year. The average household disposes of almost 15,000 pieces of paper incorrectly on a yearly basis.
The ecological impact of this wasteful solution encourages deforestation, which displaces millions of native animal species and reduces the natural recycling of harmful greenhouse gases. Furthermore, rotting paper produces extremely toxic methane gases, which are more detrimental to the Earth than CO2.
Convenient Repurposing Options
People hesitate to slice up their old files and photos because they have sentimental value. Thankfully, modern technology allows your memories to exist for many lifetimes. DiJiFi offers a competent document scanning and shredding service that converts old papers, photos, and tapes into digital files and then responsibly disposes of them.
The benefits of digitizing precious paperwork include accessible sharing capabilities, longevity, and anti-theft protection!
DiJiFi prides itself on providing customers efficient and cost-saving digitization services that remove the stress of document shredding. We ensure you’ll never lose a precious memory or succumb to predatory paper theft again.