Eco Friendly Greeting Cards for a Whiter Christmas

Christmas is right around the corner, and soon we will be off and buying Christmas cards to send to friends and loved ones. If you are like many who have a growing concern for the environment, and are looking to purchase recycled Christmas Cards, or Eco friendly cards, the good news is, there are many places out there to choose from. What do you look for if you want to go green and buy the Eco friendly cards? Conservatree.com suggests "Choose paper whenever possible that is bleached by TCF or PCF processes. And buy real recycled paper. Knowing the paper's recycled content is crucial to choosing the most environmentally sound recycled papers" Below are the key factors to consider when purchasing green, according to Conservatree.com.

Post Consumer Material/Fiber: Those end products generated by consumers that have been separated or diverted from the solid waste stream.

Material/Fiber: Paper materials, excluding mill broke, that have been separated, diverted, or removed from the solid waste stream for the purpose of use, reuse or recycling.

Totally Chlorine Free(TCF): Virgin paper that is unbleached or processed with a sequence that includes no chlorine or chlorine derivatives.

Processed Chlorine Free(PCF): Recycled paper in which the recycled content is unbleached or bleached without chlorine or chlorine derivatives. Any virgin material portion of the paper must be TCF. Must contain at least 30% post-consumer content.

Why chose Eco friendly or recycled cards? According to one Eco friendly website, Recycledgreetingcards.com. they state "Americans purchase about 7 billion greeting cards a year. That is said to be 140,000 tons of paper, even if a portion of these cards are recycled, it still is 2.5 million trees cut down, for greeting cards. The production of paper in the United States uses the equivalent of 12 billion gallons of oil for energy needs. The pulp and paper industry in the U.S. is 1st in consumption of industrial process water, 3rd in the release of toxic chemicals, and 4th in the release of air pollutants that impair respiratory health." So buying green and Eco friendly products besides helping the environment, it helps our health as well. Below I listed some websites where you can purchase these Eco friendly- Recycled greeting cards.

1. www.recycledgreetingcards.com: They have 100% post-consumer recycled cards, their paper chlorine free, and they use a water based ink . Also the energy used in making their cards is 100% wind power. Average cost per 50-99 cards $1.50 ea, per 100 cards-$1.00 ea.

2.www.cardsforcauses.com: This is a 2 for site. Not only can you buy recycled cards , 20% of order cost goes to charity. The Christmas cards are 100% Recycled Post-consumer fiber. Chlorine free. Front of card printed in soy ink. The charities range from Feed The Children to animal causes. They have a total of 80 charities to choose from. The cost for 25 cards-$73.00 with $14.00 going to your charity of choice.

3.www.spsgroup.net: Their cards consist of 100% recycled post consumer fiber,100% chlorine free. The average cost for 50 cards-$2.05 100 cards-$1.87ea.

4.www.cardsdirect.com:Their cards are 100% recycled, with 50% post consumer fibers. Average cost for 25 cards-$50, and for 50 cards-$75.

5.www.greatgreengoods.com: They use Eco friendly printing practices and recycled paper. Their cards vary from the basic to place your photo. The cost for holiday cards for 100-$112, envelopes unprinted for 100-$18, and printed 100-$108.

6.www.artlinegreetings.com: They use 30% post consumer fiber, and are produced on recycled paper or produced in a green, Eco friendly environment with papers grown and processed with environmental green practices. The cost is as low as $1.43 to high $2.56 each. They do require minimum of 100 cards, so this option maybe better for businesses.

7.www.celebratetheseason.com:There is an on line discount good until 11/06/2008 for $25.00 off your order. They do have a recycled cards tab, the cards prices vary in price such as, for 25 cards-$3.18ea , 50 cards-$2.36ea ,75 cards-$1.94ea ,100 cards-$1.72ea.

8.www.greenfieldpaper.com: Their cards are 100% recycled, printed with soy inks on their seed embedded Grow A Note® paper.

Besides holiday cards made from recycled goods, they also offer recycled wrapping paper as well. The cost: 4 card clipboard set-$13.00,5 card boxed set-$16.95.The wrapping paper cost is $7.95. They have other products such as, homemade paper which is made from items such as hemp to denim.

9.www.goodcausegreetings.com: Their cards are chlorine-free, recycled, coated card stock. The colors are created with soy-based inks. This website donates 10% to charity of your choice, with 23 charities such as, Amnesty International to Doctors of the World. The cost for 10 cards-$13.00.

10.www.holidaycardcenter.org: This is the American Humane Association holiday card site, their cards are 10% post-consumer, vegetable based ink .The cost for 25 cards-$23.00. Plus you will receive free custom address labels, and decorative seals. Also noting that 10% of cost goes to the Humane Association.

As you see, there are many options to buying green or Eco friendly holiday cards. Many of these sites also offer other holiday and special occasion cards as well. The nice thing about the online ordering is, the options for greeting content, font, and styles. You can find some recycled cards at stores like Hallmark, but the selections are minimal. For the animal lovers, pet stores around Christmas time, have recycled Christmas cards for sale, such as in Michigan, the proceeds would go 100% to the Michigan Humane Society. This is where I purchase my Eco Friendly cards. You can buy green, and give to a charity at the same time.