Whether spring cleaning or just generally ridding the home of unwanted paperwork, residents are invited to take advantage of the City of Bridgeport’s Free Community Shred-It event, scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, April 25 in the parking lot of City Hall, 515 West Main Street.

 

“This is the third time the city has held this event and it has been extremely successful,” said City Clerk Andrea Kerr. “I think it is a nice service to provide to our residents, not to mention that it is environmentally friendly.”

 

Residents can bring any documents and there is no limit for the shredding service. Paper clips, staples and small clips need not be removed, Kerr said.

 

The document destruction company, Shred-It, is based in Pittsburgh. Between spring and fall events for 2014, the Shred-It trucks left with 75,000 pounds of shredded material.

 

The idea to hold the March 2014 event stemmed from the city utilizing Shred-It to dispose of unneeded city documents. Kerr had provided city department heads with appropriate retention schedules, obtained through the state, so they could determine what documents could be disposed of. That event was so successful that it was decided to offer the same service to the general public.

 

Individuals can follow a similar process – obtaining information from the State of West Virginia or their own accountants – to ascertain what tax documentation and other personal paperwork should be kept and what can be discarded, Kerr said. Shred-It specializes in providing tailored document destruction services that comply with legislation and ensure that confidential information is kept secure at all times.

 

As documents seem to keep accumulating, the city is willing to continue hosting the event for the convenience and safety of its residents.

 

“As long as they keep coming to have their documents shredded, we will continue to do it,” Kerr said. 

 

Editor's note: Pictured are Bridgeport City Councilman John Wilson (top) and Kerr (right) at a Community  Shred-It Day in 2014.