With all of the attention being paid to security, more and more people are buying a shredder for added protection. Sales of paper shredders have risen sharply of late for many reasons including identity theft, government regulations and the rise of costly law suits for companies that do not destroy patient or client information. The question is what kind of shredder is right for your organization. Here are 6 simple questions to take into consideration when purchasing a shredder for your personal or office use.

1. How frequently will the shredder be used? Determine if your need is only periodically throughout the month, weekly or multiple trips per day. If you shred only a sheet or two at a time, once or twice a day then a desk side wastebasket or personal shredder is more than adequate. However, should you be shredding consistently throughout the day, you may require a higher capacity and faster shredder.

2. Is capacity or speed important for your application? Shredders come in all sizes, capacities and speeds. Some shredders will take only a couple of sheets at a time while others may take 20, 50 or even 80 sheets at a time. Finally, smaller machines run at under 10 feet per minute, while the larger office duty machines will shred 30 to 60 feet per minute and departmental systems can exceed 60 feet per minute.

3. How many people will be using the shredder? It is important to get an idea of the number of people that require shredding. Are they shredding only a few sheets every few days or do they shred several documents daily. For several users spread out over a large area, you may desire multiple departmental or office grade machines. You may find that your organizations shredding needs are far different than you anticipated.

4. What material and what size material will you be shredding? While most people simply shred letter sized sheets of paper, you may need to dispose of plans or prints that are larger than 8