Friendly Holiday Greetings
From a Hoarder in the Green
Listen, I’m not really a hoarder. In spite of my friends' ridicule, I am the most eco-minded among them. What I am is a sentimentalist, which causes me to hang on to things longer than the average person.
I’ve been keeping Christmas cards I’ve received through the years for, um, let’s just say some of the card companies and senders are no longer around. The good news is that this season I’m letting go of them, recycling the vintage greetings to those on this year's card list.
Some may call this socially tacky, I call it environmentally kind. Every year, with my desktop publishing and PC art wizardry, I hand-design my card, spending hours working on a prototype, personalizing it, testing it, and printing all 100 or so myself, using tons of printer ink and paper. As sweet a gesture as it is, how wasteful and costly. When the season ends most of us collect the cards we exchanged and either toss them or keep them.
For those that prefer the old-fashioned postal greetings over e-cards, take some time to consider this
recycling idea this year when the economy is so bleak? Here’s what you need and how to do it:
· Heavier 8 1/2x11 card stock printer paper, preferably recyclable brand
· Invitation or greeting card envelopes
· A pair of scissors or paper cutter
· Glue stick or double-sided tape
· Greeting cards received from holidays past
Slice off the front of each card with scissors or cutter. Fold each printer sheet into half page or quarter page to create a blank card. Attach the old card front you snipped to the front of each blank card using glue or tape. Inside the card, write, "Holidays Wishes!'' "Merry Christmas!'' "Kwanzaa Blessings!" "Happy Hanukkah! Sign your name. You're done.
The whole thing should cost less than $10, and you get a free conscience in the bargain. Maybe you can pass the idea along to your circle? If you didn’t save your cards from previous years, this season is a good time to start.
Haven’t checked with my dear friend, Letitia Baldridge (I really have met her and interviewed her for several articles on manners), but I’ll go out on a limb to say my only etiquette rules are: Do not recirculate the popular family photo greeting cards you receive. And, do not send last year’s card back to the same person that sent it to you. Now, that would be tacky!
From a Hoarder in the Green
Listen, I’m not really a hoarder. In spite of my friends' ridicule, I am the most eco-minded among them. What I am is a sentimentalist, which causes me to hang on to things longer than the average person.
I’ve been keeping Christmas cards I’ve received through the years for, um, let’s just say some of the card companies and senders are no longer around. The good news is that this season I’m letting go of them, recycling the vintage greetings to those on this year's card list.
Some may call this socially tacky, I call it environmentally kind. Every year, with my desktop publishing and PC art wizardry, I hand-design my card, spending hours working on a prototype, personalizing it, testing it, and printing all 100 or so myself, using tons of printer ink and paper. As sweet a gesture as it is, how wasteful and costly. When the season ends most of us collect the cards we exchanged and either toss them or keep them.
For those that prefer the old-fashioned postal greetings over e-cards, take some time to consider this
recycling idea this year when the economy is so bleak? Here’s what you need and how to do it:· Heavier 8 1/2x11 card stock printer paper, preferably recyclable brand
· Invitation or greeting card envelopes
· A pair of scissors or paper cutter
· Glue stick or double-sided tape
· Greeting cards received from holidays past
Slice off the front of each card with scissors or cutter. Fold each printer sheet into half page or quarter page to create a blank card. Attach the old card front you snipped to the front of each blank card using glue or tape. Inside the card, write, "Holidays Wishes!'' "Merry Christmas!'' "Kwanzaa Blessings!" "Happy Hanukkah! Sign your name. You're done.
The whole thing should cost less than $10, and you get a free conscience in the bargain. Maybe you can pass the idea along to your circle? If you didn’t save your cards from previous years, this season is a good time to start.
Haven’t checked with my dear friend, Letitia Baldridge (I really have met her and interviewed her for several articles on manners), but I’ll go out on a limb to say my only etiquette rules are: Do not recirculate the popular family photo greeting cards you receive. And, do not send last year’s card back to the same person that sent it to you. Now, that would be tacky!
Check out the ultimate in the green Christmas card and meet the accidental eco-pioneer behind it.
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