If you are worried that simply shredding sensitive documents, such as cheques from your bank accounts, isn’t enough to deter identity theft, there are several extra steps you can take to help ensure that nobody gets their hands on your important personal information.

You can take a simple hole punch and punch out the most sensitive information before shredding documents, to make reconstructing them that much harder.

Some people take shredded documents and incorporate them into pet bedding if they have small animals like hamsters. People with backyard chickens have been known to mix shredded papers in with the chickens’ bedding and then compost it when its time to clean out the coop. These steps increase the “ick” factor enough to discourage almost all identity thieves, who will look for easier targets.

Special cross-cut shredders make documents much harder to reconstruct, and if you have a fireplace or wood stove, you can burn them. If you live where you can have a bonfire, that is another option; just make sure you follow your local burn ordinances and put fire safety first.

Finally, your bank or community may schedule document destruction days where you can haul your documents to be commercially destroyed, usually for free.

Shredding or otherwise destroying sensitive documents is very important for all your current accounts. Identity theft is a real problem, and like other types of thieves, identity thieves will hit the easy targets first, so don’t make it easy for them: destroy sensitive documents that you no longer need.