I’ve been using the shreddy stuff out of my shredder to pack boxes with. It’s recycleable, something I’d have to throw out or compost myself, and since I have a huge backlog of old manuscript paged, a nearly-endless resource. I packed the black Chamba pot I sent to my cousin Elizabeth in shredded credit card offers, and it arrived safe and sound.

So sorry all my friends and family out there — you’re going to have to contend with paper shreds. Not as bad as styrofoam peanuts, but kind of a pain, I know …