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Health & Fitness

Earth Shred 2012 keeps tons of paper out of the trash!

Local Businesses Team Up, Offer Solution to Community. The First Bank of Greenwich in Cos Cob and Santaguida Sanitation promote safe recycling of sensitive documents.


What to do with file drawers full of sensitive documents and personal information? How can we keep the information safe and recycle the paper? The First Bank of Greenwich in Cos Cob teamed up with Santaguida Sanitation to sponsor Earth Shred 2012! The intent was to promote 'safe recycling of sensitive documents' including bank and brokerage statements, cancelled checks and anything with a social security number.  

Frank Gaudio, senior vice president of The First Bank of Greenwich, said, "This is a means to protect personal information from identify theft scams while saving our trees so they can be left to do their job of continually absorbing CO2 (from air pollutants) and producing clean air. This is a global issue and we can help right here in Greenwich."

Recycle paper to keep it out of the waste stream
Jimmy Santaguida, third generation in the Santaguida trash and recycling business in Greenwich, said, "Paper is on the list of items to be recycled in Greenwich. Since shredding is the most efficient means to safeguard personal data, we encourage this process, and support recycling the shredded paper to keep it out of the waste stream." He added, “the average American consumes 7 trees a year in wood products and paper.”

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Town Hall Lot Transformed into shredding station - 85+ Trees saved 
On April 28, Town Hall's employee parking lot was transformed into a shredding station for 4 hours. Cars lined up and residents patiently waited to have their documents shredded. No one complained about waiting in line because this was a unique opportunity to be sure sensitive documents were destroyed and recycled. 

Confidential Shredding LLC has presented event sponsors with a certificate confirming they saved 84.5 trees which equates to approximately 10,000 pounds (5 tons) of paper. After the event, Santaguida Sanitation recycled another 1,000 pounds of cardboard boxes left by participants after dumping their paper. 

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Do the math: To produce 1 ton of paper requires 7,000 gallons of water, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kw of energy, and 17 trees. Adding paper to the single stream recycling each week provides a huge environmental benefit.

The First Bank of Greenwich rewarded participants with reusable grocery bags and refillable water bottles to reinforce the bank's environmental message and commitment to recycling.

The overwhelmingly positive response to this event has prompted sponsors to consider future shredding events to satisfy both environmental benefits and the needs of their local customers. The event was so popular that the shredding truck filled up with 5,000 pounds of paper before 11am. There was a brief halt at the collection site while the truck emptied the shreds at Holly Hill recycling facility. It returned and filled again by noon.

The First Bank of Greenwich offers a full spectrum of financial products/services to meet the varied, particular needs of small to mid-size businesses and all individuals in Greenwich.

Santaguida Sanitation offers household and commercial trash and recycling management and will work to meet your individual needs. They also provide dumpster delivery and pickup, and assist with personal recycling requests.

Mr. Gaudio and Mr. Santaguida agreed the positive response to this event is a convincing factor for holding future shredding events. Mr. Santaguida said, "We are considering a day in early October and will coordinate through Greenwich Recycling Advisory Board who initiated the April event." 

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