Is there one day of the year that appears to encourage more paper shredding than any other? Yes, there is. In the U.S.A. that day is the Saturday after tax day.

In 2009 the Saturday after tax day is April 18. This is when scores of organizations across the country sponsor paper shredding events that allow residents in their local communities to destroy their confidential personal records for free or in exchange for a modest donation to a local charity. More than 100 such events may take place on the same day in 2009.

For the last two years, the web site FileStoreShred.com monitors public paper shredding and electronics recycling events in Canada and the U.S.A. and makes its findings available to web site visitors. For both 2008 and 2009, the website reports that the busiest day of the year for free paper shredding events appears to be the Saturday after tax day.

This year the Better Business Bureau (BBB) accounts for a large portion of these events with its BBB Secure Your ID Day. Many BBB offices host free paper shredding across the country on April 18. The greater portion of these coast-to-coast events appears to be sponsored independently by various local governments, financial institutions, shredding companies and other civic-minded organizations.

FileStoreShred.com makes it possible for visitors to its web site to view a list of free paper shredding and electronics recycling events that are scheduled for any given day. Once on the site a visitor can go to the search box and type a date of interest using the yyyy.mm.dd format. For example, to view the activities scheduled for April 18, 2009, one types into the search field “2009.04.18”. In response, the web site presents a list of upcoming events scheduled for that date. The web site also allows visitors to search by State/Province or city. (FileStoreShred.com purges events from their list about four days after they take place.)

According to FileStoreStred.com blogger G. Welis, three things may account for April’s one-day surge in free paper shredding events. First, the effort to prepare personal tax returns raises people’s awareness of their confidential financial records. Second, the endless stream of commercials in the media concerning identity theft prevention moves the public to a threshold of taking action. Third, Earth Day usually occurs in mid-April making the shredding events a great opportunity to clean-out the house, recycle unwanted paper and be politically correct. The three motivations converge as members of the public patronize the free paper shredding events in large numbers from coast to coast.