There is another thread going under a different topic that mentions putting mail onto scrapbook pages. Twenty+ years ago when I was getting started, every envelope was precious and I mounted them on complementary colored letterhead paper, put them in plastic sleeves and had everything organized in three ring binders. Over the years, the notebooks took up too much space and some of the older mail was redundant, so, I ended up pulling all the notebooks apart and giving a lot of the envelopes away to students who were just starting their collections. I am much more selective about what I keep these days and while I have a few collections that I bind into books because they relate to each other, I prefer just having the envelopes in bundles, organized by theme. From time to time, I sift through and discard a few as I am filing the new mail. I have a 4-drawer chest full of mail and I will not let the collection grow any larger than those 4 drawers. It would have been hard to just toss the old mail that I didn't want to keep. But, it was fun to pass it along to people who were thrilled to have examples for inspiration. So, if you are just getting started, and you think trading mail art might be a life-long passion, you might consider a filing system that will allow for some editing as the collection grows.
Another thing I do with mail that I am editing out of the collection is to send it to beginners who are participating in exchanges. It gives me something to put in the envelope since I seldom have time to write a note. I assume they are happy to get extra mail, even if it is not addressed to them.
I have helped a few families with the disposal of collections of art supplies when an artist dies. I intend to leave all of my things neatly organized with names attached so that my family can just make a few phone calls and designated people will come and pick up the *treasures.* I have to decide who gets the WhopperPlate pen. That is going to be a challenge.
