Holiday Cards

The amount of cards sold during the holiday season, 1.9 billion, would fill a football field 10 stories high, and requires the harvesting of nearly 300,000 trees, (Source: CalRecycle). A few creative solutions and purchasing ideas could drastically reduce that amount while still allowing you to keep in touch with your loved ones.

• Send electronic cards through a local company Care2.com that generates donations on behalf of sustainable projects locally and around the world.
  
  
• Purchase renewed cards while helping abused, abandoned and neglected children from St. Jude's Ranch for Children. All sentiment types are accepted (please note they cannot accept Hallmark, Disney or American Greeting cards). After the holidays, you may donate cards to St. Jude's for their Recycled Card Program. Mail cards to the address below, Attn: Recycled Card Program.
  
  

  St. Jude's Ranch for Children 100 St. Jude's Street Boulder City, NV 89005 877-977-7572

  You may also donate cards to RAFT, a resource center that supplies schools and nonprofits. Mail them to:

  RAFT
  1160 Kern Avenue
  Sunnyvale, CA 94085
  

• Cut out old cards and use them for gift tags.
  
  
• Save the cards you receive to cut and create new ones next year. Make cute envelopes from magazines. Click here for directions
  
  
• E-greetings are a fun and informal alternative to traditional holiday cards. The following are some examples of what is available on the internet:
  
  
  • American Greetings
  • Hallmark