Where Online to Buy Eco-Friendly Christmas Cards

It's that time of year again - time to start thinking about buying holiday cards. And if you're into saving the environment, there are ways to put the green back into the season's traditional green and red color palette. One thing to keep an eye out for is whether a vendor tells you how much post-consumer waste is used to make the card. Paper can be recycled and still be brilliant white if it comes from paper-production scraps. But post consumer waste is the newspapers and printouts we all haul to the recycling bins and the more that's used, the more the card's actually doing for the environment. So embrace the earthy, beige background and go pick out some eco-friendly cards. Here are some of the best sites I found. I've grouped them into three categories: traditional card sellers that offer a selection of recycled cards, green vendors that offer more specialized products and not-for-profit organizations that not only sell green cards but also use the revenue to further environmental causes.

TRADITIONAL VENDORS:

www.cardsdirect.com/recycledcards

Sometimes that direct link doesn't work and you have to go to: www.cardsdirect.com and search for "recycled cards" in the Web page's search tool.

Selection: About 85 designs

Cost: Scaled pricing depending on quantity. 100 for $120 plus $5 shipping, 25 for $50 plus $5 shipping.

Environmental perks: Recycled paper

Personalization: Consumer can choose the verse that goes inside as well as add a personalized note for free.

Favorite design: DP145, a design that uses 50% post-consumer waste and features a green Christmas tree with red ornaments. Looking closer, the green is made up of the word "recycle" printed many times and the ornaments are red recycle symbols.

Notes: Web site was a little slow to load but very self-explanatory with clear, upfront info about shipping costs. Good selection of high post-consumer-waste cards.

www.holidayclassic.com, then type "recycled" in the Web site's search tool.

Selection: About 38 designs

Cost: Scaled pricing depending on quantity. 100 for $139, $9.73 shipping. 25 for $63, $7.95 shipping.

Environmental perks: Recycled paper

Personalization: Consumer can choose the verse that goes inside as well as add a personalized note for free.

Favorite design: #13984. This card depicts Rudolph but instead of his traditional red nose, he has a green-glowing compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb for a nose. 30% post consumer waste.

Notes: It was a little hard to get find information on shipping costs on the Web site. I e-mailed and was told shipping is $7.95 for any order up to $124.99 and then 7% of total price for any order $125.00 and above.

www.peartreegreetings.com, go to the Christmas card section and they have a choice for recycled cards

Selection: 9 designs

Cost: Varies depending on design. For my favorite design, pricing was 25 for $23.50 plus $6.99 shipping. 100 for $73.75 plus $10.99 shipping.

Environmental perks: Recycled paper

Personalization: No.

Favorite design: 4442FC "Dream Green Recycled Holiday Card" featuring a stylized design on fronts with a royal blue starry night, swirling snow and three trees. No information given about post consumer waste though card and envelope appear white so the assumption is no to little post consumer waste.

Notes: I like how clearly the recycled cards are highlighted and the site emphasizes going green but offered a slim selection of post-consumer-waste designs.

www.artlinegreetings.com, click on "Recycled Paper Holiday Cards" link of left of screen

Selection: 53 designs

Cost: Varies depending on design and quantity. Roughly 20 for $50.25 plus $10.93 shipping and 100 for $144.00 plus $12.79 shipping.

Environmental perks: Recycled paper with some designs featuring 30% post consumer waste.

Personalization: For a premium.

Favorite design: B3-X-5661-NG9T-KN, which features a green glass bulb ornament that has a recycle symbol on it. Inside the symbol is a Christmas tree and the card says "Reduce, Reuse, Rejoice!"

Notes: I like that the site predominantly features its recycled cards on the frontpage. Selection is good but shipping costs are high.

GREEN VENDOR:

www.greenfieldpaper.com

Selection: 15 designs

Cost: Depends on design. For standard cards about 5 for $13.95. For "Grow-a-Note" cards it runs about 5 for $16.95. Shipping prices were not immediately clear.

Environmental perks: No trees were cut for these cards. They are all made of 25% hemp and 75% post consumer waste recycled pulp. They contain no acid or chlorine and most are printed with soy ink.

Personalization: No.

Favorite design: The "Grow-a-Note" line is terribly cool. This recycled paper includes seeds embedded in it and when you plant it, it grows into flowers. My favorite design is the Grown a Note Partridge.

Notes: Great cards but definitely pricey.

NOT-FOR-PROFIT FUNDRAISERS:

www.sierraclub.org/store and click on the holiday card link

Selection: 14 designs

Cost: Varies but roughly 20 for $15.00 plus $7.95 shipping, 100 for $75.00 and $16.20 in shipping.

Environmental perks: Recycled paper printed with soy-based inks.

Personalization: No.

Favorite design: Sierra Club Emperor Penguins is nice but I also like the Nature's Details set because it offers four different designs in each box of 20.

Notes: The designs are all based on nature photography that helps remind us what all this recycling talk is all about.

www.audobon.org/market/licensed/ and click on the link that takes you to holiday cards

Selection: 18 designs

Cost: $23.00 to $27.00 per box of

Environmental perks: If you click on the "holiday card info" link, the perks are spelled out. Good thing because I almost missed this just browsing the cards. All of the card stock is Sustainable Forestry Initiative certified paper with at least 10% of the content coming from post consumer waste. They're printed with vegetable-based inks which contain at most 5% volatile organic compounds, far less than the 35% VOCs in petroleum-based inks.

Personalization: For free when you order three or more boxes.

Favorite design: None of the designs grabbed me overwhelmingly but I did like B940, Chickadee Cheer, which features a line of five chickadees marching through the snow with one carrying holly.

Notes: Great choice but the designs are mediocre.

www.goodcausegreetings.com - a clearinghouse of not-for-profit's cards, including several environmentally friendly options such as the Wildlife Trust and Environmental Defense. I selected one design I liked from Environmental Defense and have its details listed.

Selection: Vast

Cost: Priced on a sliding scaled depending on quantity. 25 for $34.75 and 100 for $139. Must call a toll-free number to get shipping costs.

10% of the sale price benefits the Environmental Defense Fund

Environmental perks: Recycled, chlorine-free paper though it doesn't spell out post consumer waste content.

Personalization: Can be done for a premium.

Favorite design: ED0002, "Our Precious Earth," which features a stylized bow wrapped with a red ribbon.

Notes: Good cards for a good cause though the cards for the environmental groups didn't appear to have post consumer waste incorporated.