Ecopreneurist

I feel bad for the trees during the holiday season. Not only are they cut down for our living rooms, but the amount of paper waste generated by holiday hooplah is just astounding.

Between Thanksgiving and New Years Day, Americans throw away an additional 25% of waste. That’s over 25 million tons of trash for the holiday season. Greeting cards, envelopes, gift wrap, cardboard boxes and all the trimmings that make our holidays festive really add up in the landfill.

Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to be festive and green at the same time. Ecopreneurs preparing their holiday marketing promotions can learn a thing or two from creative business owners like Von Glitschka, an independent graphic designer and illustrator in Salem, Oregon. Instead of sending a printed holiday mailing, Von created a fun promotion and made it available as a PDF file online. That way his recipients could choose to print and assemble the “4th Not So Wiseman” at home, or just enjoy it online without printing a thing. Not only do online promotions like this save a bundle on printing and postage costs, but they eliminate envelopes and paper cards, and thus, waste.

Von’s Not So Wiseman also comes along with a green message and a cute story by Kristen Fischer. The Not So Wiseman is not so popular because he brought coal as a gift for baby Jesus, but “Jesus just wasn’t down” with coal’s production of greenhouse gases. Now the 4th Wiseman serves as a reminder to be green and kind to the earth, because if you don’t, you deserve nothing more than coal for Christmas! You can download and create your very own 4th Not So Wiseman at Von’s blog, Art Backwash. Don’t forget to print him out on recycled paper!

• » See also: Sprout Eco-Friendly Timepieces
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Even if you’re not quite as creatively talented as Mr. Glitschka, you can green your company’s holiday mailings in many other ways. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• If you decide to do a printed card, there are many green printing and paper options available. You could also save paper (and postage) by sending a postcard instead of a card and envelope.
• Make your holiday mailing something useful so people are less likely to toss it. Your promotion could be a calendar, a coupon redeemable at your business, an ornament for the tree, festive gift wrap, or anything that encourages reuse.
• Keep your holiday marketing efforts focused on online media rather than printed materials. I usually just design a card as an image that I can attach to personalized e-mails.
• Give green gifts, or make your own. Vegan organic holiday treats in a reusable holiday tin are always a nice gesture, as is a bottle of organic local wine.
• Get creative with green gift packaging for your client or employee gifts. Gift wrap can be saved and reused several times, or you could get creative dressing up brown paper bags, comics, or whatever paper you have. Or forgo the packaging altogether and drop off your gifts in person instead.
• Make your holiday marketing efforts as sustainable as possible no matter which media you choose, and include a green message encouraging recipients to recycle, reuse, or support green businesses.
• Do good while marketing yourself at the same time. Ask customers to bring canned food in to your business, or give out bags with your logo on them to collect used clothes for a homeless shelter or other charity. There are many ways to help around the holidays, and you can publicize your company’s efforts to reap instant good karma.

Please share your suggestions for greening your holiday marketing efforts by leaving a comment!

Image copyright Von Glitschka, used with permission.

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