Getting a greeting card from a friend or a loved one on any occasion is always welcoming and tends to make us feel special and happy. The custom of exchanging greetings dates back to ancient times and has lasted well into the present with some significant changes along the way. The most apparent change came about in the late 1990’s with the growth of electronic technology and use of the internet. This introduced a new way of sending and receiving greeting cards, called E-cards. Although, this method of sending greeting cards is by far way more economical, sustainable, and practical than investing in store bought cards, but there is still something to be said about getting a paper greeting card in your hands.
Millions of cards are produced each year making their way into the homes of people all over the world. The problem comes when we have a collection of cards from every occasion year after year. The question is what can be done about this. Here are a few fun options for what to do with your old greeting cards:
- Repurpose them into Gift Tags for any occasion gift giving. You can cut out them out, punch a hole to add a ribbon and attach it to a gift bag, or paste the new cut out onto a piece of cardstock to place on a gift box.
- Reuse them as postcards by cutting off the front part of the card and making it into a postcard. Because the price of postage is less for a postcard, this method becomes rather cost effective.
- Donate them to places that have a recycled card program, such as St. Jude’s Ranch for Children. St. Jude’s is an organization dedicated to helping abused and neglected children. They accept all types of greeting cards and then reuse them to make new ones. The cards are then sold to raise funds for the children.
- Recycle any old or unwanted greeting cards along with your paper and cardboard recycling. Before doing so, you may want to scan and store them into your computer if you are on the fence of discarding them
The next time you are looking to give a greeting card to someone, think about repurposing an old one and giving a new life to it and making it just as special as the day you received it.
Written by Fazeelah Chappell
Photo Credit by https://www.flickr.com/photos/bmmaran/4714285149/
Whilst researching this topic I found your article and love your ideas for reusing old greeting cards.
In the UK we have similar schemes/charities that have been set up for recycling Christmas cards, but not necessarily for other cards. Most used greeting cards can be recycled and we encourage this as a greeting card and wedding stationery publisher at http://www.wowvow.co.uk – we also offer recycled paper and card that can be used by brides and wedding stationery companies to make their own wedding stationery.
I love the idea of scanning/storing card images but there are always special cards that I would want to keep!
Whilst researching this topic I found your article and love your ideas for reusing old greeting cards. In the UK we have similar schemes/charities that have been set up for recycling Christmas cards, but not necessarily for other cards. Most used greeting cards can be recycled and we encourage this as a greeting card and wedding stationery publisher at http://www.wowvow.co.uk – we also offer recycled paper and card that can be used by brides and wedding stationery companies to make their own wedding stationery.
I like the idea of scanning/storing greeting cards and sentiments – although I do keep the very special cards that I receive!