DOCUMENT SHREDDING AT WEST U RECYCLING CENTER SATURDAY

In 2004, Texas ranked second in the nation for number of ID theft victims and Houston was the top city in Texas for such crimes. Most ID theft is not electronic but depends upon stealing documents, mail tampering, or digging through trash and dumpsters. Citizens can guard against this level of theft by shredding their personal documents. On Saturday, May 6, from 9 am to noon, a professional document shredding company will shred up to ten boxes of paper documents per customer, for free, at the WUP Recycling Drop-off Center at Westpark and Dincans.

Steve Stelzer, a member of the West University recycling board, said, “Paper makes up 40% of our municipal waste stream, and it is very easy to recycle back into paper.”

Stelzer said the event is not just for West U residents. “We especially want to reach out to nearby apartment dwellers, who don’t have as much access to recycling outlets.”

Besides documents, visitors may bring other paper, cardboard, items of type 1 or 2 plastic, aluminum cans, tincans, and glass bottles to be recycled.

“Recycling has been strong in our city since 1973, and we want to share our successful RECYCLEXPRESS facility with our close-by Houston neighbors. What better way to introduce our always open facility to the surrounding community than with a free document shredding event?” asks West University mayor Burt Ballanfant, “West U as always welcomes fans of recycling to use our recycling facility when they have material to be recycled.”

According to an article in emagazine.com, recycling one aluminum can conserves 300 watt-hours of energy, enough to run a 100-watt bulb for three hours. Making a new aluminum can out of an old can requires only five percent of the energy it takes to make a new can out of raw materials.