Lexington offers free paper shredding for America Recycles Day

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 4, 2013) — In celebration of America Recycles Day, Lexington residents will have an opportunity to participate in a free paper shred event that will allow them to dispose of sensitive documents in a secure and environmentally-friendly manner.

The event will take place Saturday, Nov. 9, at the old landfill pad, 1631 Old Frankfort Pike, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event is a joint collaboration between Lexington’s Division of Waste Management, Cintas Document Management, the Keep Lexington Beautiful Commission (KLB), God’s Pantry Food Bank, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), the Frankfort/Lexington Chapter Links, Inc., and is sponsored by Paul Miller Ford.

“We’ve been pleased to see so many people participate in previous events,” said Steve Feese, director of the Division of Waste Management.” It’s obviously filling a need for our residents.”

All documents will be securely destroyed and recycled into low-grade paper products, such as tissue paper. Cardboard boxes will be collected and sent to the Lexington Recycling Center.

Shredding and recycling old documents is not only good for the environment, it’s also a way to protect personal information.

“BBB’s mission is to advance marketplace trust, and assisting consumers in protecting their identity is crucial to that mission,” said Jack Frank, President and CEO of BBB serving Central and Eastern Kentucky. “Shredding old credit card statements, tax forms, medical records, etc. is a positive step toward avoiding becoming a victim of identity theft.

The paper shred event is for Fayette County residents only (no businesses, please). There is a limit of five boxes or bags of material per car. Please make sure that the paper isn’t in plastic binders or held together with binder clips. Staples, paper envelopes and paper clips are OK. Participants are asked not to arrive early as they will not be served before 9 a.m.

Entrance to the event will be through Jimmie Campbell Drive only. Participants will exit onto Old Frankfort Pike in front of the landfill pad. The first 400 cars will receive a LiveGreenLexington reusable shopping bag filled with coupons and information on recycling and other city programs

While there is no charge for the shredding service, participants are invited to bring donations of non-perishable food items for God’s Pantry. Most needed items are canned meat, canned fruit, soup, canned beans, tomato products and baby formula. Please do not bring items packed in glass.

“This is Cintas’ fourth year participating in America Recycles Day and we couldn’t be more excited. We continually strive to be a leader in green and it’s always nice when you can get the community involved,” said Eric Caldwell, general manager of Cintas. “This is a great event for Lexington and for the “Go Green” initiative. There is no better way to securely recycle your sensitive documents. We hope people take the time to come out and enjoy the event with us.”

For more information on the paper shred event, visit www.lexingtonky.gov/papershred. To pledge support for recycling in Lexington in celebration of America Recycles Day, click on www.lexingtonky.gov/AmericaRecyclesDay.

Cintas provides cost-effective document shredding, storage and imaging programs. For more information about Cintas document management services, visit www.cintas.com/documentmanagement