Green Holiday Greeting Cards

A good deal of us love to send and receive Christmas greeting cards, but let's face it, they aren't the most earth healthy things out there. The amount of paper used to produce these cards is staggering. Also, the chemicals used in printing most of these cards are very harmful to the environment and to all species that come into contact with these cards. This year you can help do your part for the preservation of our great planet by following a couple of the following suggestions.

1. This year you can send holiday greeting cards online to those on your mailing list that have email access instead of traditional paper cards. Many eco friendly non profits offer ecards for free. You may also find very cute ones at various freeware sites on the internet. Just do an internet search to find them.

2. If sending ecards is to impractical for you or you have friends and family that do not use email you can use greeting cards made from recycled paper. I would encourage you to check out your local environmental non profits to see if they sell such holiday greeting cards. This way you can support green efforts monetarily as well as through your actions.

3. Also, check out your trash can and craft cupboard for green greeting card supplies and ideas. You may be surprised at what you could come up with to make your own "recycled" Christmas greeting cards.

4. The holiday greeting cards you receive this year should be recycled. You can throw them in the recycle bin along with your other paper recyclables, or you can use then in scrapbooking or other decorating. They can also be used for creative childrens paper crafts.

As you prepare for the holiday season keep in mind that we can all do our part to help save the planet. Also understand that helping the planet does not have to be a big hassle. In the case of purchasing and sending Christmas greeting cards, the green suggestions I have made above do not add to what you are already doing. Searching for, choosing, and sending the cards is still all that would be required. The only difference is in your decisions. Make some earth friendly decisions today and follow the suggestions I have made for holiday greeting cards. I wish you the best holiday season this year, and with your green efforts, many a joyous holiday seasons to come.