Beware: One man’s trash is another’s treasure

Officials are urging residents to use extra caution when disposing of holiday trash.

Waste Management, the company responsible for trash disposal in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, wants residents to be proactive with their recycling and cautious when throwing away items that contain personal information.

Identity thieves know January is a month filled with prime pickings. This time of the year home offices are often full of receipts, bills and bank statements because of the large volume of purchases during the holiday season. Much of it winds up in the trash.

“It’s always important to remember to be careful when disposing of sensitive information,” said Mike Smith, market area manager for Waste Management/G.I. Industries. “As you clean out receipts from holiday shopping, billing statements or credit card offers you may receive as a result of your holiday purchases, be sure to shred or tear them up before placing them in your recycling bin.”

Items that contain sensitive information include charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, checks and bank statements, expired charge cards and credit offers received in the mail.

To prevent identity theft, officials are recommending people decline receiving credit offers. This can be done by contacting the credit bureaus at (888) 5-OPTOUT (567-8788).

Officials also are urging residents to properly dispose of all recyclable materials. During the holiday seasons, large volumes of catalogs are sent to homes across the nation. Resource Information Systems Inc. has estimated that more than 3 million tons of paper are used to produce catalogs. Recycling catalogs, as well as other junk mailings, helps to reduce deforestation and save landfill space.

Residents can reduce the number of unwanted mailings by:

•Declining to be added to mailing lists when shopping at a store or online. When placing an order or making a donation, write or ask the company not to rent your name to other companies or organizations.

•Contacting the companies sending catalogs and asking to be removed from their mailing lists.   

•Sharing catalogs with roommates, family members, neighbors or friends, rather than each individual receiving a copy.

Individuals can also have their names removed from mailing lists by visiting the Direct Marketing Association’s website at www.dmaconsumers.org and registering for the Mail Preference Service.