The SIJ Holiday Gift Guide

Lovely Address File

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What it is: Index card file with “found” cards and Canadian maple wood case

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Who makes it: lovelydesign

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Where it’s made: Vancouver, B.C.

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For more info: www.lovelydesign.com/mailorder

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Price: $75

Most people may not be ready to give up their BlackBerry for this low-tech organizational tool. But for those craving the tactile pleasure of flipping through an address file (and possibly finding a home for some stray business cards), Sharilyn Wright’s design is … well, lovely.

Wright is a paper pack rat who spent years collecting samples from places as diverse as a dollar store in Venice Beach to a Christmas market in Sweden. Some years back when Wright could no longer easily store her collection in her apartment, she began fashioning handmade journals from her stockpile. The resulting books are so good-looking some people can’t bear to actually use them. The address file, which rests on a base of Canadian maple, is also pretty, and 260 recycled cards and 24 alphabet index cards are included in the rather hefty price. Refill 30-card packs are available for $6.

Quickpoint Corn Mugs

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What it is: Promotional beverage mugs made from compostable corn-based plastic

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Distributed by: Dall & Dall Advertising in Portland

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Where it’s made: Missouri and Alabama

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For more info: www.dalldall.com

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Price: About $4.75 each

Disintegration time for a common plastic commuter mug? Forever. Disintegration time for Quickpoint’s mugs made from corn-derived polylactic acid (PLA)? One to two years, according to Portland distributor Andrew Dall. Quickpoint, headquartered in Fenton, Mo., produces the mugs closer to the U.S. corn supply in Missouri and Alabama, while Dall & Dall distributes them on the West Coast through its promotional products company.

Corn plastic is made by processing the plant’s starch into sugar which is then fermented, resulting in PLA pellets that can be made into all types of plastic ware, from clear, thinwalled to-go containers to thick insulating mugs.