How many Shred Days are there a year?

Austin ARMA works to have two shred days a year. One in the spring and one in the fall. Please always check here for dates of current and upcoming shred days.

When are Shred Days normally held?

The location of the Shred Day does move around the city. Please check here for confirmation of where the current and next Shred Day will be.

Who are the volunteers?

The volunteers are members of the Austin ARMA chapter and members from the sponsoring local vendors that are donating their day to this free community service event to help you securely shred your confidential information.  Please be aware of them and keep their safety in mind while driving your vehicle.

What is ARMA?

ARMA International is a not-for-profit international professional association that specializes in managing and governing information as a strategic asset.  The local Austin ARMA chapter is the group that organizes the free shred event.

Can I bring my business records to be shredded?

No.  This event is for private households to securely destroy their confidential information.

How long should I maintain my personal records?

Here we provide a personal records retention schedule you can refer to in order to determine if your records can or should be destroyed.

Is there a box limit that I can bring to Shred Day?

No more than 10 boxes per vehicle will be accepted.

What are the event hours?

The Shred Day begins at 8:30 am and will end promptly at 1:00pm on the date scheduled.

Will the event occur even if there's inclement weather?

No. It is up to the discretion of Austin ARMA depending on the severity of the weather and the safety conditions for the volunteers and attendees.

How can I check if weather has cancelled the event?

You can check our website event page (here) or email us at austinarmachapter@gmail.com, also you can call [512] 937-3347 to leave a message (if you leave a message make sure you tell us why you are calling, give us your name and a call back number).

Will I have to unload my car?

No, Shred Day volunteers will gladly unload your car; however, if you bring a pet along with you, the volunteers will NOT be able to reach into the vehicle.

Am I guaranteed to have my confidential records shred as long as I arrive by 1:00 pm?

We make every attempt to ensure anyone who arrives before 1:00 pm can drop off their records, but the event may close earlier than that time if all trucks become full before 1:00 pm. Absolutely no arrivals after 1:00 pm will be accepted. We appreciate your attention to this.

What is the Express Lane?

The Express lane is a faster alternative where citizens of Austin and the surrounding communities can drop off their personal confidential records to be placed in bins on a truck that will be driven back to the secured and bonded shred vendors' facilities to be shred within 72 hours.

The only difference between the Express Lane and the OnSite Shredding is that the Express Lane items are not shred onsite same day.

Both options are completely secure to protect your documents, The choice is up to the attendee the day they arrive. People will direct you to which lane you should be in.

(Note: This option is  not applicable for all Shred Day events.  It depends on the location and that event's parking and event logistics.)

Is it just as secure to use the Express Lane?  

Yes. All of our shred vendors are insured and bonded professionals that provide these services to hospitals, banks and the government offices around our community.  The items dropped off will be taken and shred at their facilities within 72 hours.

Paper should be in cardboard boxes that do not exceed 24" x 24" x 36" and should be able to be easily lifted. The boxes should have fitting lids or securely closed box flaps. This prevents the paper from accidentally being blown out and exposing your personal information to identity theft.

 If there are a lot, yes. A small number of standard household staples are ok.  Large amounts, industrial staples, paper clips and binder clips should be removed.

No, you can drop your mail into the box as is. No need to remove.  It will all be shred and recycled.

Yes. All paper and cardboard is recycled.

You can use any cardboard box with a fitting lid that is not larger than 24” x 24” x 36”.  We have to ensure the volunteers are able to pick the boxes up.  We also cannot accept flimsy boxes that may fall apart if picked up.

Yes, just inform the volunteers that you wish to keep your boxes and they will be returned to you after they are emptied.

Dry paper of any color is the only accepted material. All paper should be in cardboard boxes with lids or flaps that close.  This will ensure no documents will get dropped or carried off by the wind, keeping your information protected.  DO NOT TAPE THE BOX CLOSED.  We cannot accept paper in plastic bags or leaf bags.

Batteries, plastics, wet paper, clothes, electronics, metal, three ring binders, wood, binder clips, rubber bands or anything else that is not dry paper.

You have the option. You will be asked to pull off to the side and park.  There you can wait until the bin is completely full and will be able to watch your items (along with other attendees items) be shred via a monitor on the outside of the truck.

2020 , 2021 & Spring 2022 Shred Day Events were cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions/cautions.

ARMA Austin hosts free Shred and Recycle Event for Households

For the past 16 years, the Austin ARMA chapter has sponsored an event that not only provides a service to the local community but also raises awareness about the importance of records management: Shred Day.

Fall Shred Day 2019 was held at Balcones Shred facility on November 16, 2019. We recycled 6,520 pounds of paper and 6,150 pounds of cardboard. We collected $3,600.00 in donations. The donations were split 50/50 between the Austin ARMA Chapter and Operation Turkey. Thank you to our Fall Shred Day partners AARP, Operation Turkey, Austin Resource Recovery, and Balcones Shred!

Spring Shred Day 2019 was held on April 27, 2019 at Shred-it Facility. Over 950 cars passed through the lines to drop off boxes of records. We collected 64,800 pounds of paper and 1,500 pounds of cardboard. We collected $4,978.00. The proceeds were split 50/50 between the Austin ARMA Chapter and Central Texas Food Bank. Thank you to our Spring Shred Day partners AARP, Central Texas Food Bank, Austin Resource Recovery, and Shred-it!  

To put on something of this magnitude and make it work takes a lot of time and coordination. Securing the location, advertising the event, getting volunteers and supplies all takes time. Thank you to the members of the board who worked tirelessly on the details and made sure that those attending were well fed and hydrated. The chapter would also like to thank all the volunteers who managed the flow of cars, collected donations, crushed cardboard, and brought supplies. We couldn't do it without you!

Fall Shred Day 2019: A GREAT Success!

Thanks to 600 families, a full day of disposition drop-offs resulted in a grand total of 6,520 lbs. of shredded paper recycled along with an additional 6,150 lbs. of cardboard! The impact was resounding. Thanks to everyone’s handwork—from volunteers and planners to attendees and participants!

We also were able to raise $3,600.00 in donations, which means we provided $1,800.00 to Operation Turkey a volunteer organization that serves warm holiday meals at Thanksgiving and the chapter also received $1,800.00 for its operating budget!

Fall Shred Day 2018: A Booming Success!

Thanks to 513 families, a full day of disposition drop-offs resulted in a grand total of 21,750 lbs. of shredded paper recycled along with an additional 3,700 lbs. of cardboard!The impact was resounding. Thanks to everyone’s handwork—from volunteers and planners to attendees and participants!— we saved:

• 216 Trees

• 4,834 Gallons of Oil

• 89,040 Gallons of Water

• 52,152 Kilowatt Hours of Energy

• 41.98 cf of Landfill Space

We also were able to raise $2,516 in donations, which means we provided $1,258 to Operation Turkey that will feed over 500 people in need this holiday season and the chapter also received $1,258 for its operating budget!

Austin ARMA Fall Shred Day 2017

In 2017, we shred over 140,000 POUNDS OF PAPER and collected over $11,000 for the local chapter and local charities.

With the awareness of identity theft, it is important to carefully dispose of personal records including financial and medical records. The Austin chapter of ARMA along with AARP, Austin Community College, Austin Resource Recovery, ATI SecureDocs, Balcones Shred, Iron Mountain and Shred-It are sponsoring the 15th annual Free Spring Shred Day on Sat, April 28th, 2018 from 8am – 1:30pm (or until trucks reach capacity).  The event will be held at the ACC Highland campus (523 E Highland Mall Blvd).  Only dry paper packed in cardboard boxes no larger than 24 x 24 x 36 inches with fitting lids will be accepted (securely closed box flaps are also acceptable). Please do not bring hard plastics, plastic bags, electronic media, batteries or three-ring binders. 

All of the shredded material and cardboard boxes are recycled.  Monetary donations will be accepted with 50% of the funds going to the Austin ARMA chapter and 50% going to the Central Texas Food Bank. 

RECAP of Spring Shred Day - November 2016

400 cars came through our lines
We raised over $2930 (that means $1,465 for each the chapter and Operation Turkey)
We shredded and recycled 21,930 lbs of paper
1,500 lbs of cardboard
Thanks to this we saved 186 Trees and over 76,755 gallons of water

Thanks to everyone for your support and for making this a successful shred day!

Recap of Spring Shred Day - May 2016

• 1055 cars came through our lines

• We raised over $5006 (that means $2,053 for each the chapter and the Capital Area Food Bank)

• We shredded and recycled 57,040 lbs of paper

• 1,855 lbs of cardboard

• Thanks to this we saved 500 Trees and over 206,000 gallons of water

• Click HERE to read the thank you letter sent by the Capital Area Food Bank

Thanks to everyone for your support and for making this a successful shred day!

Recap of Fall Shred Day - November 2015

• 726 cars came through our lines (Fall typically averages 500 cars)

• We raised over $4300 (that means $2,100 for each the chapter and Caritas)

• We shredded and recycled 60,000 lbs of paper - almost double from previous Fall shred day events!

• 2,000 lbs of cardboard

• Thanks to this we saved 842 Trees and over 346,000 gallons of water

Thanks to everyone for your support and for making this our most successful Fall shred day to date!

Recap of Shred Day - May 2015

• 1,002 cars came through our lines

• We raised $5,240.54 (that means $2,620.27 for each the chapter and Capital Area Food Bank)

• We shredded and recycled 65,610 lbs of paper (63,370 lbs) and cardboard (2,240 lbs)

Thanks to everyone for your support!