Murphy – Rain hindered but didn’t stop folks from coming out to the N.C. Cooperative Extension building on March 22 for a Spring Clean Out Day community event.
The Shred-it paper shredding truck was on site to provide local residents with an opportunity to get rid of their paperwork in a safe manner, and in larger volumes than a home shredder may be able to keep up with.
“Shredding old papers helps with the fire community so that if your house catches on fire there’s less fodder for it to burn. It also helps to lower identity theft and helps to unclutter your life. Shredding your old papers helps with your health as well because there’s a lot of mold and dust in old papers,” said Greta Gibson with the Local Government Federal Credit Union and Civic Credit Union, which sponsored the Shred-it truck.
All paper shredding was done on site, so there were no worries about personal information leaving in tact.
Gibson also presented an informative presentation on stopping identity theft, which included topics such as, “What’s in your wallet?” “How to obtain a free credit report” and “Guarding your mail from theft.”
Plenty of folks stopped by with unwanted prescription drugs that were later properly disposed of by local law enforcement.
Marlana Baker is Cooperative Extension’s family and consumer science agent.
“It’s really important that if medications are expired you get them out of your house, especially with the drug misuse in the community,” she said. “Keeping old medications around means they can become too old to use and they chemically change. Those with dementia or confusion may take the wrong medication, so
having an outlet for people to bring them to us is really important.”
Baker’s presentation focused on decluttering and gave suggestions on how to get rid of unwanted items, different storage solutions and “The Three Box” rule, which helps when deciding where to place items during decluttering.
The Ark food truck was on hand to serve some good eats. For details on this and other events, call Baker at 828-837-2210, Ext 5.