Over 4 Tons of Paper Shredded and Recycled at United Way’s Shred Day for Nonprofits

Over 4 tons of nonessential documents were shredded and safely disposed of when United Way of Westchester and Putnam (United Way) provided shredding services to 12 nonprofits in Westchester and Putnam on Shred Day, June 20. The nonprofits recycled more than 250 banker’s boxes filled with papers. The event was sponsored by Veolia North America and supported by volunteers from M&T Bank.

“I am delighted that a dozen of our partners participated,” said Tom Gabriel, president and CEO of UWWP. “The cost of disposing of old documents is burdensome for many of our partners. By offering this service to the community for free, we ensure that the agencies can increase their capacities while also arranging for a secure and environmentally safe way of discarding the items.”  

United Way organizes events such as Shred Day to help local nonprofit organizations save money while keeping the information safe and disposing of paper records in an environmentally conscious way.

“We love partnering with the United Way, especially on this day. We have so many boxes and papers in our office, and having a day like this just helps us put more money towards wishes. We’re so grateful for the United Way” said Denise D’Amico, Chief Mission Officer at Make A Wish Hudson Valley. 

It takes 24 trees to produce a ton of paper. Therefore, this year’s Shred Day saved more than 100 trees. Since United Way’s first Shred Day, the event has saved 268 trees, 31.5 barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 19,845 miles), 30,750 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 45 months), 40 cubic yards of landfill space and 450 pounds of pollution.

As part of the organization’s commitment to providing capacity-building opportunities to nonprofit organizations and being good stewards of the environment, United Way will host an e-waste event in the fall.