One such product line is green office supplies, or rather school supplies. I was taken with the recycled paper blue books — dubbed and colored as “green books” — plus recycled-plastic-content pens (I prefer my fountain pen) and corrugated-cardboard ring binders. There was even a aluminum-cased USB stick in all-cardboard packaging. Other things — one I bought and will describe later — too.

Some were marginally more than their non-recycled-content companions; others, like that USB stick, were quite a bit more. Bit it’s nice to have the options and I saw it at every bookstore I visited.

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For this middle ground, I like the cool aesthetics and fiber and metal construction of Hollinger boxes. To me, they’re the visual language of archives, and thus research and storage. They even have boxes for human remains — think archaeology — so one might also be my final, er, storage place.

Until then, I keep manila folders full of files in flip-top boxes. Attractive enough to keep out, and no plastic. I keep rare books and papers in a lidded variety. I’ve had mine for years, but I recall them being shipped in cardboard cartons with kraft paper packing. (And D.C.-ites, one of their two factories is in Fredericksburg, Va. Loco-storage?)

Order them online here.

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A phone book trade group obviously sensing pressure — other state bill have failed, but for how long I wonder — have created an opt-out service. Not so useful, but worth promoting if your goal is to reduce useless giveaways. (Catalog Choice is another.)

Go to www.yellowpagesoptout.com for details.

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I want to point out the obvious: rubber bands are really handy. I use them to bundle papers, including files. I use them to cinch cables — plastic-covered! — to protect them from wear. I use them to affix a note to an odd-sized object. I even use one in place of a wallet.

Being made of rubber, they biodegrade — indeed, how many times have we run across one that’s brittle and about to crack? And they can even be had without plastic packaging. Some are boxed, true, but I get mine from the letter carrier, holding together mail. But I only keep as many as I use. The rest I collect and return. Better, after all to reuse than recycle.

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We get many at work, and they’re not recyclable through the usual waste streams. But shipping companies will sometimes take them and reuse them.

The Plastic Loose Fill Council has a zip code based finder for places that will take packing peanuts, but even in D.C. none were close enough to justify the effort, when work time is considered. (I try only to model behavior a reasonable person would imitate.)

But since I saw the D.C. participants were USP Stores, I called the closest one and even though they weren’t on the list, they gladly accepted them.

A note on my workflow: I test packing peanuts with a drop of water. The still-rare starch-based ones get sticky and dissolve and so I dispose of them in the breakroom sink. best not to mix the kinds in case the plastic reaches an area where they really can be recycled.

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With what? My red pencil, of course. (Call it a carry over from my grad school assistant days.) I don’t know what the lead is made of, but the pencil is wood and I’ve seen them available loose. Once I made that connection — I also use green and non-photo blue — I stopped using highlighters. And my pencil cup has thinned out, too.

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And we’ve gotten more since.

What I didn’t mention then is that you only get the computer: no mouse, no keyboard. So if you have a working mouse and keyboard, that’s some plastic you don’t have to rue.

And if you get four computers at one time, they come in the original cardboard carton from the case manufacturer, with only enough plastic tape to seal it. Nice.

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And I plan to keep them in plain old manila folders. It’s easy to find them packed in cardboard boxes and recycled fiber content folders are available. (I’ve given up on bulky hanging file folders; I hate how they snag on anything and everything. They also have plastic waste: the tabs.)

Sometimes the solutions can be found in the ordinary and familiar.

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I discovered an empty Thin Mints carton (that holds 12 boxes) is the perfect size to use for storing and sorting letter-sized manila folders, which themselves are often packed without plastic and can be had with high recycled fiber content.

And using the box spares a purchase for a case; many small cases for manila folders are made of plastic.

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