Selfsufficientish.com

What does the forum think about sending Christmas cards?

1. Completely unnecessary and a waste of paper, resources, time and money. Should send ecards/texts/email/homemade instead. Would save on the recycling.
2. OK if sending cards made from recycled material and the proceeds benefit charities. Even though I still have to recycle all the material.
3. Because it's Christmas there is nothing wrong with spending a lot of money on cards and postage to send to the people I love.

I try to make my cards, I like sending them. I made them this year without having to buy any new materials which made me feel very smug!!

I use both paper cards and Ecards. I sometime make my cards, sometime I buy some, it depends... As for E-cards, I only use one site as what they do is just superb and their site has got a privacy policy. One thing I don't do is send cards to everybody I have ever met, which is what some people seam to do sending hundreds of cards!!! The people I send/give cards to are carefully selected.
Well done Helsbells for some top recycling!

I make my own which I hand out to people and when sending cards by post I use photographs and send them as postcards rather than in envelopes to cut down on paper usage and postage costs.

I like the postcard idea ... I to send my own photo cards... t Yule and only to folks I am not in contact with all the time so they no I still care ... and that's a good reason to send cards of any type ... it really gets to me when the woman you walk to school, with every day gives you a card ... or the neighbour who never talks to you when you meet in the street ...

Every January The Woodland Trust teams up with high street retailers to collect and recycle millions of Christmas cards.

Just take your Christmas cards along to participating stores in January.
The cards will be recycled into newspapers, paper towels and writing paper.
The money raised goes to help the Woodland Trust to plant trees and maintain our woodlands.

I really don't like Cards.

This stems from the competition element at school, then work, then into bitter middle age.

Its a waste of time, money, and the sentiment is rubbish. If you want to know how someone is look on facebook! ( or call them)

I like sending and receiving cards and my house would be very lacking in festive decoration without them! In January I cut out the pictures for next year's gift tags then put the rest in the recycling. I also cut all the stamps of the envelopes for charity then shred the envelopes and put in the compost so I don't waste any.

We were too busy this year to send cards as we only came back from honeymoon on 13th Dec and I have to say that no one seems to have gotten offended by it so I'm seriously considering whether to bother in future years. They are nice though and it is lovely to recieve post, so maybe I'll confine it to those relatives who don't live very close. I think I'm still on the fence :-)

Like others on here I use Christmas cards received as gift tags for next year, used stamps go to charity and I use some of the card to write my shopping lists on. If there's anything left it goes to be recycled.

i use nice cards, particularly square ones to make little gift boxes

i didnt bother with xmas cards - i made xmas decs out of felt (took same amount of time as a home made card) and gave them instead - doubled up as a mini present/xmas card and hopefully will be used for years to come...

I try to make as many as I can, now. I use the best parts off old cards but admit to a rather crazy, craft buying binge last year or year before, when I started. I did buy mostly second hand stuff though.
*If anyone lives near to Walsall, I would love to have some of your old Christmas or greetings cards: I especially need them from milestone birthdays, baby congrats, etc etc. I would hand on any that I didn't use: I don't waste anything!
Beth

A cross between 1 and 2. Everyone gets sent an email xmas card because it is cheap and easy but close friends and immediate family members and those without access to the internet also get a real card. Usually the cards themselves are shop brought but my gift tags are always recycled and whenever possible I flatten out old wrapping paper to reuse as well.

My office does a collection for charity now and lots of people do that instead of cards. I think it's partly an age thing, I've got some elder relatives who would be gutted not to receive a card. I use it as an excuse to catch up with people who I really want to keep in better contact with, but life is too busy during the year. Last year I started to make knitted Christmas baubles to give instead, but didn't get enough done. Think I'll get the needles out now.................