Free shredding throughout April | Community Spirit

My friends at Cadence Bank, the Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South and Cintas are offering FREE shredding of your old documents at four events in April.

Cadence Bank and Cintas will host three shredding days:  April 20 at the Cadence Bank Germantown branch, 7878 Farmington Blvd; April 25 at the Folk's Folly Place Branch, 591 S. Mendenhall; and April 27 at the Midtown branch, 1516 Union Ave. Times for each event are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

"We would like to service as many people as possible at these scheduled shred events, so they are setting a 10-box limit per person," said Seleta Howell of Cintas Document Management. "Small staples in paper are OK, but any big paper clips/clasps need to be removed prior to bringing them to the event."

The BBB will hold its semi-annual Secure Your ID shredding day April 21, 9 a.m. to noon, at the University of Memphis parking lot on Poplar Ave. at Conlee St.

"This year, thanks to www.911cellphonebank.org, we will also be accepting cell phones, AC adapters and cell phone batteries for recycling," said Nancy Crawford, director of communications for the Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South.

WHAT TO SHRED AND WHEN TO SHRED IT

Shred canceled checks and debit/credit card receipts as soon as you reconcile them with your bank or card statements.

For tax documents, the conventional wisdom has been to keep them for at least seven years, but IRS spokesperson Dan Boone said that's changed.

"IRS recommends keeping tax-related records for at least three years past the due date of the return involved," Boone said. "For investments, we recommend keeping the records for as long as you own the investment and for at least three years after you sell it.

"Generally, if you are going to be audited, it will happen no more than three years after you file the (tax) return."

If you're shredding at home, make sure you use a cross-cutting shredder that slices the paper into quarter-inch or smaller confetti. If you use a shredder that cuts the documents into long strips, thieves can piece those back together, either by hand or by computer with specially-designed software.

Wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam's Club sell cross-cutting shredders for as little as $45. They should also be able to cut CD's and floppy disks.

Consumer Reports recommended using hard drive shredding software or removing the hard drive before you sell or throw out a computer.

Copyright 2012 WMC-TV. All rights reserved.