Suggestions for CD/DVD destruction
2I have several hundred home burned CDs and DVDs that I’d like to destroy before disposing of them. If there were only a handful I’d cut them up but I’d like a time efficient and inexpensive bulk method. I’ve thought of fire, but I’d need a disposable vessel as I am thinking melted discs would be hard to get out of my firepit. Maybe I could line the firepit with tin foil first? Also, are there fume issues with burning discs? Ideally I’d be doing this tonight, I wanted to have a fire this evening but I wore myself out cleaning and moving furniture today.
- 14 comments, 21 replies
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I could get you a truck and you could drive over them.
@PlacidPenguin That could be fun. Believe it or not I actually thought about scattering them in my driveway and rolling back and forth but it seemed very messy.
@moondrake
I believe that.
I was looking at it more from a fun perspective than from a practical perspective.
At work we shred them in a shredder then put small piles into each normal trash bag (with the regular office trash) until all the shredded discs are gone.
@thismyusername I suspect my home shredder isn’t up to it. I’d rather not have to pay a service.
@moondrake I use mine at home for it… in fact it has a picture of a credit card and a dvd on the shredder feed slot… check your manual you might be surprised… also consider wearing glasses while doing it… plastic bits try to escape.
@thismyusername
I bought an Amazon Basics one. 6 sheets max at a time.
Came with a broken bin, they sent a full replacement and let me keep the first one.
Gave the first one to my brother.
So… 2 paper shredders for the price of one.
It’s completely Meh, so I’m happy.
The local commercial secure disposal and shedding services are pretty cheap.
My maildrop does that. They have these enormous padlocked bins they can’t open without a shredding service employee present or something like that. the customer puts things into a slot in the bins. And then a truck comes once a week and auto-opens the bins and shreds all while the maildrop employees watch. Or they will shred them while you watch, if you want, and if they aren’t busy.
If you know someone who works in an office with a commercial shredder, they might do it for free as a favor, depending on clout and authority.
@f00l The office workers I know are from my old government job and all their equipment is grant funded. Each section is funded under different grants and all the equipment is restricted to that function., We couldn’t even shred stuff from different sections, much less outside.
I think my
will shred things for me for free. You’d have to wait until next year, clearly.
As with all plastics, burning them will indeed create fumes you don’t want to breathe.
How good are your local thrift stores? If they have a guarantee on electrical items, pick up a shredder there. Here in SoCal, a heavier 8-12 page one that can handle discs typically go for $15-20.
@narfcake I’ve never seen a paper shredder in any of our local thrift shops.and none of them offer any guarantee on electric items. I considered buying one for tge purpose but I was hoping for a sokution as cheap as fire. Guess I’m not going to be able to get rid of the darned things without having to spend money on it.
You have a hacksaw? Stack em up, cut em in half and be done with it
@rkess88 How would I keep them stacked? I think they’d slide everywhere and have to be cut individually or a couple at a time.
@moondrake With a piece of pipe or tubing (I’d guess 1/2" or 3/4" copper would work, but the plastic center tube from a CD or DVD bulk package would also work and is likely free) you can keep a stack centered.
Pinch said stack in a bench vise with the center tube at or slightly above the vise jaws. With my bigger vise, I’d be able to do at least 50, maybe 75.
Use a (hack, rip, crosscut, etc.) saw to make a cut parallel to the center tube but not into it, leaving a tiny bit of the disc intact.
Loosen vise, rotate discs 180 degrees, tighten vise and repeat.
The small bit of remaining plastic will allow you to easily snap the discs in half, three or five at a time. I’d do this with eye protection and in a place where flying bits of plastic are not a concern, perhaps inside a large plastic bag.
Like any of the methods that doesn’t destroy the entire disc surface, this will allow someone extremely determined to recover parts of the disc’s contents. I doubt your data is that valuable to anyone.
I’m really surprised that no one is wondering what is on these CDs and DVDs. That was my first question. Are these backups of your financial records? Or homemade porn? Or ?
Anyways, you can burn them but the fumes are not good to breathe, so do this outside and downwind of yourself. You’ll want to use some form of large metal can (say a large coffee can or paint can) with some holes poked in it at the bottom and lower sides to allow air in. Build a small hot fire with charcoal or wood and then toss the discs in two or three at a time.
Using a shredder is probably a better way to go but it would require a shredder capable of dealing with optical media. My 16-sheet one from Staples will do them without a problem. My friend’s 8-sheet one will also do them tho not as well. Freezing the discs makes them more brittle and thus they shred more easily.
@baqui63
I’d rather not know. Ignorance is bliss sometimes. Plus, it helps preserve my sanity.
@PlacidPenguin I gave up on sanity long ago. Things really are better without it.
@baqui63
Taking breaks from sanity is good on multiple levels.
You could stack them up and drill holes in them. Would that do it?
@f00l Not a bad idea. But wouldn’t the undamaged portions still be readable?
@f00l @moondrake this, especially if you still have one of the disk holders that new ones come on (all stacked up on a central plastic pillar), or you could stack a bunch of them up loose (how long are your drill bits?) then put a wrap of tape to hold them together while you drill. If they’re not held they will slide and skitter around.
Although its not a bulk method you can also take a knife or screwdriver and score the crap out of the printed side of the media; that will damage the underlying metallic layer that has the data. You can see it from the data side if you dig down deep enough. A few scratches running from the center out to the edge will make the disks unusable without considerable data recovery work.
Check your local financial institutions. I work at a credit union that offers shredding for members. Also check the shredding companies. Our local secure shred company has a list of public shredding events.
Just give them to a local firing range and let them become their problem.
I am shocked that no one has suggested a microwave.
@Pantheist He said he wanted a bulk method; doing more than a couple or three at a time in the microwave risks either incomplete damage or melty-smelly-firey results. One at a time a microwave is great, just a few seconds per disk will do.
@duodec @Pantheist
It may be a few seconds, but let’s do some math with made up numbers.
At the minimum, several hundred is 300.
300 * 3 = 900.
900/60 = 15.
Since this is assuming each frying is consecutive without any breaks/pausing/putting CD in/taking it out, let’s add 5 seconds to each as an average.
300*8 = 2400.
2400/60 = 40.
Not necessarily efficient.
Of course, actual amount of CDs/DVDs is not necessarily 300, so if it’s more, length of time could be worse.
@duodec @PlacidPenguin Fair enough. That’s what I get for not reading.
@Pantheist @duodec
Yeah.
You get math.
@PlacidPenguin Glancing at the stacks, I’d say in the neighborhood of 600. Three 100 spools, four 50 spools, and a storage box of loose discs.
@moondrake
@PlacidPenguin
@Panthiest
@duodec
If you have a working microwave you wanna throw away afterwards, fine. But doing that in bulk can mess up the microwave.
How about calling whatever friend has the best home shedder and then just going over there?
Or what about one of these?
https://www.google.com/search?q=amazon+paper+cutter&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjltu6bt6HRAhXqy4MKHbJzDqAQ_AUICCgC&biw=414&bih=628#imgrc=Pf2LSQu_bd7R1M%3A
It seems to me a paper grocery bag full of cds ducktaped closed and a sledgehammer could be a lot of fun.
@CaptAmehrican
What do you mean by “could” ?
Of course it’s fun. Just not necessarily efficient, especially if one needs to stop for Advil and earplugs/something else to block out sound.
Very cool. Interesting that the dog didn’t bark at the shrill whine of tge first disc, but at the instant when the disc shattered. I wonder what the dog perceived.