How to get rid of old diaries (lots of them)

[FlipFlops4Me]

I've decluttered a huge amount of stuff over the past two years but am having another go round. I have a box of my old diaries. They were detailed and very private and there is absolutely no way I want my son to have to deal with them. I used them to vent when my DH pissed me off, or DS himself did - you get the picture.

I don't have an open fire or a garden where I could light a bonfire. Can I just chuck them in the wheelie bin? I really can't face spending the next few months shredding the damn things. Any suggestions?

Take them to the tip and shove them in the paper recycling. Putting them in the wheelie bin will make them heavy and I wouldn't want a suspicious partner or older child to take them out again.

I wouldn't risk just putting them in the bin. You need to destroy them properly.

I didn't have a particularly great relationship with my mum and when I cleared her house after she died found written notes where she has been venting. Such as it being my fault that my dad got cancer and died. I've never got over seeing that.

You could use a service like this, OP https://www.shredstation.co.uk/shredding-services/domestic-shredding-private-individuals/

My DS is adult and doesn't live here and my poor DH is in residential care for severe dementia so it's just me.

I think I'll put a couple each week in the bin bag that goes in the wheelie bin. I've deleted my online diary and all the associated files and copies, but I don't want my son distressed by me venting about him in his teenage years. Although to be fair he only had one or two patches where it was worth venting about him. It'll be him who clears out the house eventually and I'm trying to make it so that the task isn't as daunting as clearing out my MIL's house was! In the end I had to get clearance agents because there was simply so much stuff that no-one wanted.

I shredded mine a few years ago.
Yes, it took a while as I had to pull the pages apart and shred them a few pages at a time but ultimately I knew they were gone and could not be read by anyone.

@Cotswoldbee - yeah, mine would need that but I was a horribly enthusiastic diarist and the amount of sheer burble is overwhelming.

Maybe there's a local shredding station as suggested by @BatshitCrazyWoman - I'll check.

Before you put them in the bin put them in a bucket of water overnight, with a bit of bleach. It should make them unreadable. 🤞

I soaked mine in water and then composted them. They compost down in a very satisfying way. If you don't compost then just soaking them in the sink overnight before throwing them in the bin will at least mean they'll break down more quickly, the pages will stick together and it won't be possible for anyone to read them.

Or you could add the pages to your compost bin

Do this you can just bin them afterwards you don't need to even use bleach washing up liquid does.

I don't have a garden for composting but I could certainly soak them before binning. Thanks @ConflictofInterest and @Mrsjayy and @TwoLeftSocksWithHoles . I've got lots of washing up liquid and bleach.

Mission Disposal will start tomorrow 😀

Thanks for this thread OP, I have several decades worth of a late relative's diaries to get rid of, and there are some good suggestions on here.

Bury them deep in a damp proof box somewhere - they might be unearthed by someone in hundreds of years time and be a really interesting find.

Or they might be unearthed six months after I'm dead and passed to my son ......

I like how you are thinking of your son and not wanting him to read his mum's inner thoughts just get rid. My sil found some of late mils diary's she just took them away and shredded them so nobody else read them.

I think I would use a shredding service

I used a shredding service last year for exactly this and for the same reasons and would recommend it for convenience and peace of mind.

Such a good idea to get rid of them. My uncle left his detailed diaries and my parents know he had an affair but his grown up children don't. They now have his diaries and are reading through them. My parents don't know what to do as unsure if he wrote it down or not and can't remember the year it was (in the 70s or 80s)

I had some that I ripped pages out of the covers, then ripped pages up and put all into recycling. I didn't have that many though.

I shredded all 20 years of mine recently. They weren't that interesting I'm sure but they were my private thoughts and as time has gone by I didn't want them left behind when I'm gone. Big job doing that, but a relief to have done so. The covers went into recycling as they were cardboard. Wish I'd realised soaking would work, that would have been a lot easier!

My Mum kept a daily diary from 1970. So 40 diaries.I started going through them last month(she died 2010). Nothing mind blowing just life events for family but made me remember dates and events I had forgotten I made sure all identifiable personal details were removed and then put them in the household waste bin. (Good luck to anyone trying to read them as Mums handwriting was almost impossible to read!!!!!)

I do have a fire but I still ripped mine up and put them in the paper recycling. I've journalled my way though some bad times in my life and I wouldn't want my son to know how bad it really was when I was pretending that everything was fine. I didn't do it all at once, I'd read one and then rip it up.

I might keep the covid years, it's easy to forget how strange that was and I hope that is the most significant thing that I live through.

I don’t mean this as a kicking, but presumably he knows he was a horror as a teenager. What would actually be so bad for him to know that his behaviour was bad enough to drive someone to breaking point.

chastening I can understand, but sometimes it does us good to see ourselves as others see it see/saw us. Particularly if some of the same behaviors have continued into adulthood.

I was a tad honest about a lot of things, not just DS .....

I have managed to render 6 out of 8 unreadable, so will do the last two this week.

And no, DS doesn't need to read my vents without me there to point out that I was venting, full of fury, and spouting off when once I'd stopped and thought, discussed things with him, it was usually alright. He wasn't actually a horror - just a teenager.

It amazes me when people don't take time to think about and deal with anything they wouldn't like their children to read/ see/ deal with.
I think you are doing a good thing.