From life experience I have gathered the information that 9 out of 10 men HATE greeting cards. Its us women that are keeping the greeting card dream alive. If it weren't for us I guarantee they wouldn't exist! Do you know how many greeting cards are sold in North America each year? I never really looked up the figure until now even though I assumed A LOT. 7.7 billion actually. (aka 3 million trees!!!) That is also a lot of money. Greeting cards these days are definitely not cheap. They normally range from about $3.50-$7.
As you can imagine, that many cards isn't very green either. I've been thinking more lately about how much in our lives is totally unneeded. We literally just have so much STUFF. Our houses are bigger than 20 years ago, our consumer debt is growing steadily year after year and all for what? I haven't figured that part out yet but I have figured out that we put a lot of time, energy and money into little, sometimes unnecessary things that just add up.
Ok so here are my suggestions for the greeting card conundrum:
1. Reuse them. I've decided that I am going to start reusing as many greeting cards as I can. I haven't gone through them yet. I'll be looking for ones with a good front and minimal message inside. For instance it wouldn't make much sense to reuse a card that on the front says "Knock, Knock" and then inside you just write "Happy Birthday!" Personally, I would expect you to tell me the rest of the joke. Also it will be hard to re-use cards that are too specific like "To my daughter, son and law and their Siberian Husky" So I guess I'll just have to keep those ones as mementos. Hopefully not too many people have written on the left side of the card as I am thinking of cutting the card in half and kind of using it more as a postcard. I'm gonna put it out there... if you can send me a reused card I will not be insulted that you did not buy me a new card I will be extra happy that you sent me a reused one!
2. Send an e-card. E-cards aren't always ideal (ie: if you are going to a party or are sending money, cheques, photos or gift cards in the mail) but they do have their place. I think they are great for Christmas where you often don't send anything with your card. Also if you ship someone a gift or package you can often "track it" and see when it has arrived that would be a perfect time to send off your e-card (also a reminder of when they can go pick up their package). Here are a few e-card sites. Nicer ones still cost money, but for a fraction of the price.
http://www.bluemountain.com/
http://www.hallmark.com/online/product/ecards
http://sendables.jibjab.com/ecards/
3. Send a Reusable card. I came across these last night. http://www.slingshotcards.com/ Check them out. They are the same price as regular greeting cards but are totally re-usable. Not only that you can then track your card and see where your card goes in the world and how many times it gets passed on. I think this is a great idea and a totally awesome thing for kids to be apart of.
Would love to hear comments about what your feelings would be about receiving a reused card. I think positive comments towards this type of thing would encourage people to do it more. I still feel like there may be a bit of a stigma surrounding it (kind of like re-gifting). So if you have any other ideas let me know!
My Grandmother was famous for this; she would simply strike out the old salutations and then write her own, it used to be really funny to see where your card had come from.
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