1000 Flowers for the Planet - #398 Recycle Xmas Cards

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #398 Recycle Xmas Cards

Now that Christmas is over and it’s nearly time to pack away all the decorations until next year, think about how you dispose of all those Christmas cards responsibly. The easy option is to put them all into your recycling bin, but there may be a couple of ideas for repurposing them. Create next year’s gift tag by cutting out pretty sections or using the entire picture from smaller cards, ensuring there is no writing on the back (of course). Make a garland by cutting out pretty elements, such as baubles, stockings or trees, and stick them onto a length of pretty cord. Use the pictures or parts thereof to decorate plain gift bags or even brown paper bags you have acquired throughout the year. The pictures can be used for all types of decorating ideas, from making placemats, Christmas decorations and bookmarks, to simply using them as scrap card for your shopping lists throughout the year. Using them more than once is preferable to putting them into recycling, because the recycling process will actually use resources such as water and energy to process them into new product. Remember, in the USA alone, nearly $8 billion is spent on cards annually (Flower #388) – that’s a lot of product wasted on a single use, so try to find other recycling/repurposing ideas.