Purposely Un-Green, Because it Makes People Smile

by The Scribbler

You’ve seen it at the bottom of emails now and then: “Think twice before printing this email.” A friendly environmental reminder to save a few trees, which makes sense if you’re just printing the address for this week’s holiday party. Take two seconds, grab a pen, and write it down.

The Old Fashioned Way -- Beats Email

It seems we’re still “grabbing a pen” when it comes to sending holiday cards. Even if your process is entirely automated—from ordering pre-printed cards, computer printed address labels, and metered stamping—there must be some premeditated thought. Will your junior-year college roommate still get a nod this year, or will she replaced by that new mom in playgroup? How about your old boss?

At the end of the day—the “old fashioned” way still reigns. There just isn’t the same moment of anticipation clicking “open” on an email versus opening the envelope. Perhaps it isn’t the “greenest” of me to say so, but I don’t care. According to the American Greeting Card Association 90% of Americans surveyed said that they like to receive greeting cards and personal letters from friends and family, preferring greeting cards to e-mail, text messaging and phone calls.

I like technology. I’m not an early adopter—I usually wait until the bugs are out. But I’m all about old school this time of year. When it comes to sending good old-fashioned cards, I think it’s fair to say the USPS has figured it out. When they can take 830 million pieces of mail on a single day, as they did Monday, December 14, 2009, and get the majority of them delivered to their intended destinations, bravo. As my 87-year-old grandma (who only sends letters and scoffs at email) would say tongue-in-cheek, “What do I know, I’m only a mother!” It sounds a little better than, “I told you so.”

I think it goes further than just friends and family. We all have our Holiday card lists. There are people on that list you never really speak to, but you send them Christmas cards each year like clockwork. And they do the same. The world would seem out of balance if you didn’t get their cards, if for nothing more to see that addresses are the same. If they send a photo of their kids, you see how they’ve grown. And I even like reading the letters, however sappy, to catch up with people. It’s feel good stuff.

The Greeting Card Association reports that 60% of all seasonal card business goes to Christmas. (Next biggest is Valentine’s Day at 25% with Mothers Day lagging far behind at 4%–sorry Mom). According to Hallmark Research, 1.9 billion holiday cards will be sent this year. That’s a lot of ways to say, “Naughty or Nice?”

Now to the green machine. As world leaders gather in Copenhagen to discuss the environment, I assure you that most people are not considering post-consumer waste when buying holiday cards. They look for the witty, the solemn, the right attitude that will communicate their feelings and leave the right impressions with card receivers. If they are recycled paper, that’s a bonus.

The Berman/Brown Holiday Card 2009

The latest trend for the past few years has been photo cards. Easy and personal. Play photographer (or hire one) and then 10 minutes in a CVS or photo store and you’re done. Many use recycled printing paper, but let’s face it—photo inks aren’t exactly earth friendly.

While the U.S. is home to uber-environmentalist Al Gore, it’s the UK that’s figured out how to recycle Christmas cards! The Woodland Trust with the help from retailers W.H. Smith, TKMaxx, and Marks & Spencer stores invite shoppers to dump their cards into bins after Christmas. The conservation charity recycles the cards and plants trees based on the amount of cards they get. They even let consumers vote on where the trees shall be planted. The charity says that for every ton of recycled cards, 17 trees are saved. Brilliant.

And yes, it’s more than just dead trees that environmentalists complain about. There’s the added mail weight, making more trucks and planes burn more fuel, there’s the majority of virgin paper used for cards production. Heck, there are the cigarette breaks taken by the greeting card writers when they’ve got writers’ block and need to clear their heads.

The World Environmental Organization has the following recommendations. Or in other words: things to do with a dead greeting card:

Use it as a bookmark. (Ed note: This is the only one that really makes sense)
Make it into a gift tag by cutting the old card with scissors or pinking shears. Add the name and a note inside.
Cut off the side with the picture (if there is no writing on the reverse side) and reuse it as a post card. You’ll pay only postcard postage rates! (Ed note: Seriously?)

The naysayers go so far as to say it’s all just a commercial excuse for Hallmark to cash in. Did anyone say Festivus? ChrismaKwanzaKuh? Hallmark’s position is:

While consumer demand is an important part of the overall equation, it alone is not enough to prompt Hallmark to create greeting cards for holidays. When evaluating a potential holiday offering, we consider: 1) “sendability” (How likely are people to send cards for this occasion?) and 2) whether there is a large enough consumer need across the United States.

Congratulations on your divorce and new puppy at Christmas, anyone?

Keep those cards and letters coming I say. In a time of belt tightening, I’m sending fewer cards for sure. But I’m still addressing them by hand, and dropping them in the slot at the post office myself. And I hope it makes you smile.
Happy Holidays to all.