Well it is that time of year when millions of people sit down, write and send out greeting cards. They send them to relatives, friends, business associates, companies and clients they work with and sometimes include long, drawn out dissertations of all their escapades from the last eleven months, for inquiring minds who might want to know…or not!

So when the holidays are finished for another year, we put away the ornaments, lights, trees and packages and then we look at all those cards and wonder, what to do?

If you are a maniac recycler like me, you will try your darnest to recycle the little buggers. However, if they have metallic, foil or any glittery stuff on them, they are not recyclable. That also goes for wrapping paper with the above ingredients mentioned and if the cards and paper are bright colors; those cannot be thrown into the recycling bin either.

So what to do…? Well, I have a suggestion, just incase you haven’t purchased your greeting cards yet and you are ready to jump in the car and head to the closest big box store..make sure you purchase cards made from recycled paper and that they are also recyclable. This is important, so that the people you mail them to can recycle them…of course, they may not think about recycling them, so suggest it when you send them the card…as a way to get green for the holidays.

However, if this message has caught you in the middle of writing your cards and they are not recyclable, then you can do one of two things…send them out and never ever do it again or take them to a school, nursing home or scrapebook club that can use them in crafts and projects. Even art departments at colleges and Universities will gladly take these cards and use them for art projects. If your local stores do not carry cards made from recycled paper you can always go online and order them.

Here are a few websites that I came across which carry wonderful selections of holiday greeting cards made from recycled paper and are easily recycled after the holiday season is complete. They are: www.doodlegreetings.com; www.cardsdirect.com; www.greenfieldpaper.com; and www.greenprinter.com

So start a new tradition, by going green and recycling with your holiday cards and send the very best for the planet!