Christmas cards not ecological?

[BMW6]

Thinking about whether it is right to continue getting them.

All those trees chopped down to make the paper, the pollution caused in production etc, all to end up in recycle (or more likely landfill).

OTOH lots of jobs involved in production and £££££ generated in the economy

I'm torn. Haven't bought any yet and am trying to decide.

Can I get your opinions on this?

I love sending and receiving Christmas cards. I sent them 2nd class today - Christmas stamps too. I bought them in the January sales. That wasn't a decision for the planet but my purse.

When I got them out of the bag stashed in a drawer I'd forgotten how nice they were. They can be recycled if people want because they don't have glitter on them. I expect my family and friends will recycle them but it's not my responsibility to tell them what to do or even think about it at that point.

When I get my first card I will put it up. It makes me happy.

I think Christmas cards are a weird thing to suddenly go eco about compared with all other consumption.
I think it perhaps relates to it being a bit of a bother to buy write and send.

I don't know the comparisons, but cards are recyclable. Why not keep a phone or car a year longer, not fly on holiday, reduce online data storage instead?

It doesn’t need an opinion 🙄

If you like sending and receiving Christmas cards, do it. If you don’t, don’t.

I think Christmas cards are a weird thing to suddenly go eco about compared with all other consumption.

This is my first thought whenever people cite green reasons on the threads about hating cards. Christmas cards account for a tiny percentage of paper waste in our house, let alone material that is harder to recycle or reuse, and I do try to keep waste down. Seems an odd thing to focus on.

I work in the print industry and a lot of people don't actually realise that paper production helps the environment. Billions of trees are planted every year and left to grow for 10 years+ to supply the paper industry. More are planted than are cut down to allow for supply and demand. If we all stopped using paper completely none of those trees would be planted.

If you want to be as environmentally friendly as possible buy cards and wrapping paper without foil or glitter as this stops it being recycled. Also make sure you remove any sellotape before recycling.

Can't speak for anyone else, but cards we receive become part of our Christmas decorations and then are turned into gift tags for the year after (that does mean I secretly prefer receiving traditional cards rather than ones with family photos though) and are finally recycled. I love receiving them and think it is a lovely tradition. Presumably it also helps to keep struggling post offices in business? So well worth it I think. There are so many ways of cutting back on resources elsewhere.

I send less than five mainly to folk not in touch via other means. I stopped because the last time I sent the full whack it cost me £67 in postage. Nope.

I hate them; literally throw them in the bin the minute I've read them. Can't bear the clutter or waste. And so few of them are even remotely attractive to look at.

Please don't send one to me; send me a text or, better still, give me a ring instead!

I only send to the old folk now who expect them

Hating them is a little strong. I hope you have told everyone who might send yo a card how much you realy really hate them

They make such a difference to some people, though. My mum used to love having a house full of cards, because each one reflected a friendship or a family relation.

I have cut down my Christmas card sending considerably, but there are still family members, none of whom are local to me, who love to send and receive a card. I buy charity cards direct from charities.

Like another PP I use cards as gift tags and recycle the rest of the card.

I've seen a lot of hate towards Christmas cards recently, to do with the environment.. but no one has mentioned birthday cards, anniversary cards, wedding cards? Everyone is entitled to an opinion but I've never heard anyone criticise birthday cards and wrapping!

My feelings too. I see them as such as waste. Especially when there's not even a personal message inside. And sure, there's better ways to help the environment, but it's not mutually exclusive, why rule something out because of a small impact? It's better than no impact.

Love getting them. So.much more thoughtful than a text. I cut up the fronts to make gift tags for next year. Stamps go to charity. Envelopes are used for scrap paper shoping lists etc,and whats left goes in the compost or on garden fire.
Lots of pleasure no waste

I privately scoff when I see this ridiculous statement from people on social media.

"I'm not doing Christmas cards: so I can donate to charity / save the environment / insert latest trendy excuse".

If you can't be bothered to send cards, fine, but don't be virtue signalling and sanctimonious about it.

I don't like them either - they go straight into recycling.

Same for birthdays. DP is allowed to keep his cards up for 24 hours though

Christmas cards are hardly a lot of paper/card. If you buy ones that don't have glitter or foil then they're recyclable.
There's probably less paper in them than amazon packaging or a broadsheet newspaper. I'm sure you use/throw away much more paper products on a weekly basis than a few Christmas cards!

Really interesting and informative, thanks!

I know my parents generation really appreciated getting cards, sadly they've all died and it's my generation in the front line now. Some of my siblings still send cards, some stopped a few years ago.

It's very noticeable that most cards and wrapping paper are all being made now without shine or glitter so that they are recyclable. I like to send and receive them. They can easily go in the usual recycle bin for the council collection.

I sent 10 this year, all to people we don't see regularly but think of often.

An email or text doesn't cut it for me to say 'we miss you, and we're thinking of you' the same way as a handwritten card does.

In the grand scheme of being eco, I don't think that 10 charity Christmas cards that'll go in recycling afterwards is the worst thing I could do. I mean it would certainly be worse for me to fly to visit the recipients 🤷🏻‍♀️

When friends say this who are environmentally conscious in their lifestyle it doesn't bother me, because we also have a similar view. We send to relatives and friends we don't see in person very much, but anyone we see reasonably regularly doesn't get one

When people show little or no concern for the planet and say this rubbish whilst having a very consumer-mad Christmas I find myself rolling my eyes a bit

I still send cards to the handful of (mainly older) people I don't have on FB. It seems that Christmas cards started as a way to stay in touch, but people are in touch constantly these days.

I worked out that if a class of 30 kids all send each other a card, that's 900 cards per class!!!

Cards made for trees that wouldn't otherwise be planted, but they quickly become another source of waste to manage.

Exactly this!

I would love to cut all those conifers down and replace them with the broadleaved woodland and heathland that should be there! Much better for the climate and biodiversity.