Less Paper But Not Paperless Family History

I'm nearly done shredding the unneeded printouts in my genealogy files. You know, from the days when we cranked microfilm by hand and then printed or photographed something useful for family history? Or made notes while researching at a library? Or filed copies for some unknown reason?

Today just about everything is attached to my online family trees (Census records, birth/marriage/death certificates, links to burial places, other sources, and so on). I have family trees posted on multiple genealogy websites, because LOCKSS (lots of copies keep stuff safe).

Not paperless but less paper

My physical files are much skinnier but I am not going paperless. Here's a quick and incomplete list of what I'm saving, filed by surname or intermarried family groups:

• Original vital records (certificates have been scanned and uploaded to family trees but originals were paid for and I'm leaving them in my files)
• Letters and notes from relatives about family history (sadly I didn't date all, but these have good first-hand memories of ancestors and guesstimates of dates/places, including some hand-drawn family trees)
• Printouts or originals of hard-to-obtain documents (non-US documents for instance)
• Printouts of family trees and genealogies from relatives who have documented other parts of my ancestral background (not good enough to scan maybe, but good enough to consult now and then)
• Pending (I'm waiting waiting waiting for answers to my appeals of FOIA info from the US Veterans Administration, for example)
• Deeds of gift (for items donated to repositories, as when my Sis and I donated our aunt Dorothy's WAC memorabilia)
• PHOTOS (originals and, yes, copies, if any have notes or are marked up in some way)

Why retain paper? 

When I began my genealogy journey in 1998, the main resources were documents and photos passed down to me. They survived decades in print and with care (archival boxes, for instance) they will survive to be passed down for decades in the future. 

I do not want to entrust my entire family history to a paperless existence. I've created printed booklets, professional photo books, and other types of projects to supplement all my online genealogy info. My designated heirs will get files and boxes, stripped down to the essentials so they can keep these artifacts from our family's history alive for the sake of descendants in the future. 

My heirs will also get my passwords to access my genealogy sites, plus a bit of money to continue subscriptions for a year or two in case they want to look at or add to the trees or noodle around on these sites without having to worry about the cost. Thank you to those in the future who will carry on where I leave off!