Ecopreneurist

It used to be that people exchanged handwritten greetings during the holidays. Not so much anymore. Sending commercially printed holiday cards is a relatively new concept that began in London in 1834 and it really caught on.

About 2 billion holidays cards are sent every year, making Christmas the largest card-sending occasion in the United States. So, you are not alone when trying to decide what to do with the collection of holiday cards you have amassed. The good news is that whether its for a for a good cause or a good project, there are all sorts of ways to keep cards out of landfills.

1. Until February 15 St. Jude’s Ranch, a home and treatment center for abused, neglected and abandoned children, is accepting used greeting cards of all kinds, which their children use to create “new” (and green) cards that they sell.

2. For those of you in California, Arizona and Nevada, you can drop off cards at bins in Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets until January 20.  They will recycle them and donate the proceeds to American Forests. Last year, the holiday card recycling program raised enough money for American Forests to buy and plant 1,000 trees in areas devastated by wildfire. Amazingly, there does not seem to be a similar national program for recycling holiday cards. (is there an opportunity here…)

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3. If you happen to be in England between now an January 31, The Woodland Trust, has bins at participating retailers throughout the country where you can drop-off holiday cards. Drop your cards at stores and the Woodland Trust will recycle them and plant 1000s of trees in five UK sites.

4. Of course, in most areas you can recycle non-laminated cards with the rest of your paper recycling.  Check with your municipality or go to Earth911 where you cansearch by zip code for “greeting card” recycling centers. Apparently, waste management elves want you to remove computer chips from musical cards—they need to be recycled with other e-waste.

5. If you can’t stand to part with your cards, you can always go the arts and crafts route. The Internet abounds with D-I-Y instructions on how to turn old cards into bookmarks, gift tags, “new” greeting cards and ornaments.

6. And, if you want to keep all those plastic gift cards you received out out of the trash, Earthworks, an eco-friendly manufacturing and recycling company, has a Retailer Gift Card Return Program. It allows retailers and consumers to send in cards for recycling so that the “gift of these cards can live on and on.”

Photo: Picnic by Ellie at Flickr.com

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