Mrs Green recycles her Christmas cards
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Now don’t panic. You haven’t fallen into a drink-induced coma for three weeks and missed the big event; I’m a bit ahead of myself that’s all.
Or behind myself; I can’t tell which these days.
Yesterday afternoon I thought I’d do a spot of card writing. I haven’t bought any cards this year, so I rummaged around in my trusty Narnia wardrobe and pulled out a (plastic carrier) bag full of cards.
What a treasure trove! I can send cards for the next ten years and I don’t think I’ll run out. Which means I can put off the task of telling people that they will be receiving ecards next year (except my hardened zero waste friends that is).
Why I have so many cards I have no idea. I guess I have bought them in the sales and forgotten I have already stashed things away. Or perhaps the number of friends I have is dwindling year by year. Anyway, now I know where this delicious pile of chopped down trees is I’m at least going to use them all and give them a decent end to their lives.
So back to the plot. You see that isn’t it. That isn’t about how I recycled my cards this year. There’s more!
As I was delving about in Santa’s sacks, putting my thumb up Robbin’s bottom and getting covered in glitter, I discovered half a dozen sealed envelopes with cards in them.
On closer inspection I realised that these were cards I meant to send last year which never quite made it to the post box.
I don’t remember the reason why now; perhaps there were duplicates. Perhaps Little Miss Green had created her own artistic masterpieces and I didn’t have the heart to tell her these people were already accounted for. Or perhaps I just plain forgot and these poor people never received my Christmas wishes.
Whatever the reason, they had been sitting in this same bag for a year, waiting to be noticed and loved. This meant I had six less cards to write, six less addresses to find and a little more time on my hands.
Maybe I’ll get away with making the entire Christmas festivities a bi-annual event. What do you think?
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Tags: christmas
LOL – Mrs G. I’m completely behind you in more ways than one. Hee hee, I haven’t written one card yet and I know there are some unposted ones hanging about. My problem is I’m so disorganised I can never find their address in time. This kind of Christmas treatment is a great way of showing who your true friends are. Those who understand that you still care even if the don’t get a card will love you all the save. 😀 x
Hey Mrs A – good to know I’m not alone in my disorganisation of the festivities! Good luck with the rest of the preparations.
Heh, my plan this year is to wait until I’ve finished sending this year’s cards and then go through the cards we received other years, cut out the interesting pictures, and box them up for making cards next year. I have been far too organised for the last few years to have extra cards, but that’s partially because recycled charity cards aren’t often on sale.
Hi Ailbhe, Once I’ve finished with my mountain of cards, I’ll be doing the same as you. I have made some for this year, but still seem to have so many to choose from, from prior purchases. I’ve not seen many recycled charity cards either; let us know if you find anything worthy of note 🙂
I’ve done the same. I found a large box full of half packs of christmas cards from last year and the year before. It was great because apart from saving some money and not wasting the cards, the kids had several piles to choose from for their friends. I keep the cards I’m sent and use them for gift tags for next year.
Hi Tamsin, good to hear I am not alone with finding old cards. These will keep me going for a good few years 😀 Glad your kids are enjoying the selection.
I like making cards from the year before into gift tags too…the bigger the card, the more gift tags you get! This year I’ve wrapped all my presents in brown paper and tied them with red ribbon to make it a bit more recyclable/reusable – does anyone know if it’s true that gift wrap with shiny bits on it harder/impossible to recycle?
Hi Gemma, old cards made into tags is something I can just about manage with my very non-artistic hands LOL! I think brown paper looks wonderful for wrapping paper. According to my limited research, it’s true that shiny or foil style paper is not easy to recycle and doesn’t degrade well. So it’s best to steer clear if you can.