How To Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Greetings Cards
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Have you ever stopped to think about just how much you’re spending on Greetings Cards each year? Here are some ways you can reduce, reuse and recycle greetings cards.
How To Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Greetings Cards
We often buy greeting cards as and when they are needed, so it might seem like we’re not spending much. But £2.95 here and £2.20 there soon adds up.
You could be into the hundreds by the end of the year, especially if you have a big family.
Then there’s Christmas – keeping up with the Jones by sending the world’s sparkliest Christmas cards, as well as all the individual ‘Mum’ and ‘Uncle’ cards for the family
. You could easily spend £50 in Clinton’s to cover that lot.
So what happens to all these lovely cards post-birthdays and post-Christmas?
Unless a special card, for a big birthday or one with a particularly poignant message, I imagine most end up in the (recycling) bin.
Using the classic mantra of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, I want to look at ways to save money on Greetings Cards and hopefully prevent a few from ending up in the bin!
Now, I’m not advocating sending a card again.
Especially to older members of the family who may appreciate the contact receiving a card brings. I just want to consider how necessary each card is, how much I’m spending and where that money is going.
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How To Reduce Spending On Greetings Cards
The first thing I want to look at is reducing our consumption of Greetings Cards. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are definitely occasions that call for a card, especially when the card will be kept and cherished, such as a Christening or a Wedding. But there are other occasions where the number of cards we send could be reduced, in particular at Christmas.
5 Ways To Reduce The Number of Greeting Cards You Need To Buy
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Buy a card for the whole family at Christmas rather than individuals.
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Do a ‘to the whole office’ card instead of cards for each person at work. Some workplaces even have message boards where you can write something in lieu of sending any cards at all.
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Donate an amount to charity instead of sending Cards and put a post on Facebook explaining what you have done (I saw a lot of people doing that this year!)
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Send an E-card or short video message instead. I am sure friends and relatives would love to see your happy smiling face!
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Give a framed ‘Forever’ Christmas card which can be got out and displayed along with other decorations each year.
How To Spend Less On Greetings Cards
If you are going for the cheapest then Card Factory is probably your best bet. Many cards are 7 or 10 for £1. Stock up to avoid last-minute purchases later in the year. Particularly good for children’s cards if you have a lot of kids’ parties to attend throughout the year.
If you have the o2 Priority Moments app they often have FREE Greetings Cards, usually from WHSmith. In recent years there have been a box of cards at Christmas as well as Mother’s Day and Valentine’s cards.
Buy out of Season for Christmas, Easter, Valentine etc. Grab in the sales and hideaway for next year.
How Can I Reuse Greeting Cards?
There are so many ways that greeting cards can be reused or re-purposed. A friend of ours, Jackie Curtis, is a printmaker based near us in Somerset.
She has her Prints and other art made into Greetings cards to promote her work and we have been lucky enough to receive some.
They are so beautiful we’ve not wanted to throw them away! So instead we framed one or two and they are now hanging in various spots around the house. The one below has been on our fridge over Christmas!
If you have a large number of cards from a wedding or a special birthday you could cut out a small piece of each and turn them into one large piece of art.
Something Turquoise has an excellent tutorial for it here. You could also keep special cards in a Memory Box or cut them up for a Scrapbook.
Save all of your Christmas cards each year and then turn them in gift tags the following year. Simply cut out the most beautiful part of the card and hole punch one corner for the ribbon.
It’s a simple crafty task that children can help with and it saves money.
Can I Recycle Greeting Cards?
Yes, you can recycle greeting cards.
If you don’t plan to do any of the above please make sure you are putting your greetings cards in the recycling bin once you are finished with them.
Any particularly fancy cards I usually deconstruct, removing bows, tags, and ribbon and stashing them away in my craft box for later use.
Can You Put Greetings Cards In The Recycle Bin?
Yes, you can put greetings cards in the recycling bin but remember that cards that have glitter or foil elements cannot be recycled and could end up contaminating the whole recycling load.
These will need to go in with your non-recyclable waste. I usually rip the card in half and recycle the back that doesn’t have glitter for foil.
Many supermarkets, such as M&S have actually stopped selling cards and wrapping paper that contains glitter for exactly this reason and I really hope more retailers follow suit.
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Greetings Cards – Final Thoughts
If you are prepared to do all of the above it’s worth also thinking about where your greetings cards are coming from too. As I mentioned above, many local artists, printmakers and photographers have their work made into cards.
The price is usually around what you would pay for a nice card from Clinton’s or the supermarket.
Not only will you be giving something special and unique you will also be supporting a small local business which is definitely something we need more of.
A favourite of mine is the work of Susie Thomas from Rocket & Co. You can find her Greetings Cards at the The emporium, Somerset which features lots of craftspeople from the local area.
Loving this. I try to live frugally as well so I always reduce reuse and recycle. Many of my cards become new cards or gift tags. It’s fun to sit and make craft items with the cards we already have. The children love it too and its a fun afternoon thing to do with a friend or too. Thanks for sharing.
Yes letting the kids get crafty with cards is a great way to recycle them!
lovely post 🙂 i have kept some of my christmas ones that i want to frame for next Christmas lol. and there was one that i’ve framed now – a simple black, white, gold “believe” card that i like.
This is an interesting post. I’m traditional in that I love to send cards to everyone as I know what a difference it can make to someone who lives alone. One card can brighten their whole day. That said, I’m also more aware of the environment these days so I try to buy recycled cards and recycle any I receive each year. I also like to buy any that give an amount back to charity xx
I always think it’s crazy how expensive cards are. But they’re such a part of our culture so it’s difficult to opt out! I always buy Christmas cards just after Christmas when they’re reduced and pack them away with the decorations for next year. I also save the cards I receive for gift tags. Gift tags are even more of a rip off considering how small they are!
They are aren’t they! Like you I try to buy all of that sort of thing in the sales and put it away for next year. I think cards are really ingrained and there are some occasions that you can’t go without giving one and that’s fine – it’s just scary how much it can mount up over the course of a year!
We stopped sending Christmas cards a few years ago. With social media, it isn’t needed in the same way. We perhaps do just send 5 or so. What we have found is the number we receive has dwindled as people don’t feel obliged to send us one… Reduced all round ☺
That certainly sounds like the way to go!