With school out, the avalanche of school papers coming home will begin. There will always be some things that you’ll want to keep, especially if you have small children, but the vast majority probably needs to go. Just take a deep breath and start going through it now, while you’re still thinking about it. No need to find it all waiting for you once school begins again. A note of caution though, you will want to wait for the final grades to be posted before you actually toss anything, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start sorting now.
Aside from the regular cute drawings and school awards/certificates, you might also want to keep a few examples of your child’s work. This can sometimes come in handy if there’s ever a need to discuss changes in your child’s progress. Having your own file of examples to refer to can prove helpful. Anything with glitter, glue, etc. will need to be thrown away outright. However, the rest can probably be safely recycled. Make sure that none of it is special to your kid first of course, but after that you’ll be surprised at how good it can feel to let it all go. After that it’s time to enjoy the summer break.
Recycling as a practice has its pros and cons. We’ve all been hearing recently about how only a fraction of what we send out to be recycled ever actually is, but to not even try isn’t an option either. While the variety of arguments we could go through regarding this topic are plentiful, that’s not what we’re here to talk about today. Nope, instead we need to talk about identity theft.
Now before you hit the back button, and double check that you clicked on the right article link, hear me out. Hopefully, everyone is aware that before certain types of paperwork can go into the recycling bin (such as financial or medical papers) it needs to be shredded first (the tinier the cross-cut the better). This is especially true for those annoying, unsolicited credit card applications that we all keep getting in the mail.
Usually you would just have to shred the intro letter and the application, and the shiny brochure and outer envelope didn’t have to be first put through the machine (saving you some time, and the wear-and-tear on your shredder). Sadly, that is no longer the case. Thanks to the enthusiastic adoption of QR codes, now the whole thing probably needs to be sliced and diced.
If you take the time to look through some of those credit card packets (and let’s face it, they’re usually the thickest envelopes anyone receives these days), you’ll see QR codes on a majority of the pages. This can often include the shiny brochure too, and occasionally even the outer envelope. If you’re lucky, that might just be a generic code that goes to a blank application when you scan it. However, to make the application process easier, some of those codes will link to a very personalized (and partially filled out) application instead.
Thanks to that, you can’t risk just tossing any part of the packet anymore. Instead, to safeguard yourself from identity theft threats, you have to make sure you shred anything that looks like an application, has a QR code on it, or has a personalized web address for you to use (which is basically the address that the QR code contains, but it’s just typed out for you instead).
Nope, the thing to do is simply shred it all if you have to. Yes, there’s supposed to be a way to stop getting the solicitations in the first place, but if you’re like me, you just haven’t found the time to go through the process yet. If you’re determined to get it done now though, ironically you’ll be able to find that info in tiny little letters in the packet too. It’ll just be considerably harder to read. Good luck Everyone, and have a Happy 4th of July!
As we wrap up this heat-soaked July, and enter into a possibly even hotter August, a challenge is being issued to all of you who are taking refuge from these high temps. Take a moment to re-evaluate what you’re doing to be green. Can you improve on anything, maybe add a little something to your repertoire? Perhaps start by checking on what all you believe is recyclable. Double check with your local trash company, you might just be surprised at what you find. So many things that people assume are recyclable, actually get rejected by the local waste management company. Make sure that your efforts are going to be fruitful by updating your green living knowledge. Challenge set, now go.
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