Recycle Your Greetings Cards
Recycle your cards instead of throwing them away.
There are various ways you could try this. Use the unwritten-on side as a picture post card. Turn them into gift tags. Transform them into cards you can give again – or make them into cards to sell on for a local charity. And any that can’t be used in this process, find them a good home in the recycling bin or with one of the many schemes that will take your cards and recycle them for you – like the Woodland Trust.
Related links
The Woodland Trust
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04 Sep 2005
I’ve been doing this for years – W H Smiths have boxes you can throw them in (I’m not craft-minded enough to turn them into new cards, and anyway that means you never have the right sized envelopes).
I can’t believe no one else is doing this – it’s so easy!
taunton, GB , 01 Oct 2005
you can always cut off the ‘written on’ 1/2 of the card, and turn the ‘picture 1/2’ into a postcard, by writing your message on it, and the person’s address, and slapping on a stamp… hey presto… a free postcard… write a ‘generous’ cheery message and you’ve done 2 generous things in one go… magic!
07 Oct 2005
For several years I’ve been re-using cards for various crafts with my Brownie groups – decorating Christmas boxes, making new cards, making jigsaws and other games…there are many possibilities.
Sheffield, GB , 03 Nov 2005
We always use last years christmas cards as next years gift tags and the rest of the card goes in the compost. i also use stars and glitterry bits off the cards to make birthday cards.
AF , 13 Nov 2005
Try and do this as often as possible but does depend on the type of card sent and what it looks like etc
Godalming, GB , 13 Nov 2005
Apparently Tesco’s and WHSmith should be having collections of Christmas cards for recycling after Christmas this year.
I didn’t recycle my cards last year as I like to keep them, but I have years’ worth of cards in the loft, which I would be happy to get rid of if we have had cards from the person subsequently, or if the person is only a vague memory or less these days.
16 Nov 2005
Our local Post Office will collect cards at Christmas for a nominated charity. It is worth asking if you local shop will be a collection point for a short period after christams for a charity. Often the chariy will collect the cards from the shop.
Leicester, GB , 04 Dec 2005
Yes, I’ve been doing for years too. I turn them into notelets and gift tags. It is a family joke that I recycle gift wrap as well. I spend a peaceful hour or two each New Year, going through bin bags of discarded paper – rereading the tags, salvaging bows, ribbons and decorations. Then, saddest of all, I iron the paper on a low temperature, fold it up beautifully and save it for the next Christmas or birthday. My children are now unable to rip open a present for fear of damaging the paper. I get 80% of my wrapping paper in this way. Some of it is into it’s fourth or fifth year.
Nottingham, GB , 07 Dec 2005
My great aunt Dorothy (a wonderful Sally Army lady who used to shake her tin at the wrestling and in the city centre pubs until she was well into her twilight years!) was ahead of her time on this one. She used to get a some stick for resending all her Christmas cards the next year with the middle replaced or a sticker over the old writing – but I always thought she was great!
20 Dec 2005
Every year I use previous years cards for gift tags, then chuck leftover bits into recycling bin. Cheap and cheerful!! I’m going to start reusing birthday cards, too. Although I do make my own personal ones, too :)
20 Dec 2005
We have been taking our old Christmas cards for recycling to places like Boots and the local supermarket for quite a few years now.
However, this year we have decided to cut down on the cards we send and only send them to close family and those people we won’t actually be seeing as we’d prefer to wish our regular friends a Happy Christmas face to face. To those friends who are on e-mail we have sent them a ‘home made’ e-card. The money we are saving on cards and postage is being given to one of the four charities we support, so the money is being used to far better effect for the benefit of people who really need it.
Reading, GB , 20 Dec 2005
Someone mentioned reusing wrapping paper. If it’s in reasonable nick (but not good enough for rwapping presents) it can be saved to use for pass the parcel too, makes a change from newspaper!
22 Dec 2005
continued ….. However, this year we have decided to cut down on the cards we send and only send them to close family and those people we won’t actually be seeing as we’d prefer to wish our regular friends a Happy Christmas face to face. To those friends who are on e-mail we have sent them a ‘home made’ e-card. The money we are saving on cards and postage is being given to one of the four charities we support, so the money is being used to far better effect for the benefit of people who really need it.
08 Jan 2006
Have recylced my greeting cards and cut out parts I can make into new cards!
Dundee, GB , 10 Jan 2006
It’s cheating a bit to sign up for this as I’ve been doing it for years. I make most of the old cards into gift tags – I even use pinking shears to get that homemade crinkly edge – and the ones that aren’t suited to tag-life get recycled.
Godalming, GB , 16 Jan 2006
Took a carrier bag of old greetings cards to Smiths today. We’ve cleared out a bit more clutter and the Woodland Trust should benefit.
17 Jan 2006
Recycling cards to make labels is something I do most years, but often still end up buying labels too… Must try harder!
Baltimore, US , 12 Feb 2006
I usually do this for wrapping paper. You can also use magazine pages for wrapping paper. Just a conglomeration of random images is usally better than the typical holly paper anyways. Its more creative to. However a bit more time consuming
17 Mar 2006
We recycle just about everything we can. Cards make good shopping lists, bookmarks, packing labels, and gift tags, etc. This year we sent an e-card with a personal photo to all family and friends and only sent about a dozen actual cards (down from about 60 last year!).
12 Apr 2006
We’re able to recycle any paper or card via the council’s collection system, so they get thrown in the recycling box with everything else.
AF , 15 Apr 2006
All packed up and ready to go but still in the house.
Gloucester, GB , 15 Jun 2006
i always recycle cards – don’t forget you can do it all year round – birthdays, anniversaries, easter etc…. clic collect them from my local school – so v easy for me to do
13 Sep 2006
Thanks for the tip about using the cards as postcards. I always do Christmas tags and recycle the rest but like the idea of postcards.
Lancaster, GB , 30 Sep 2006
People think I’m mad for doing this, but I grew up in a family who saved wrapping paper by un-doing presents carefully, cutting off the excess sellotape and then ironing the paper flat and ready for next year’s presents ! It meant that I was opening presents in the 70’s with wrapping paper from the 50’s and we loved the continuity as children. Funny, it never dawned on us that Father Christmas had a limited supply of paper….
Cards are cut into tags using pinking shears and a hole punch. Backs of cards that are blank are used for shopping lists. Waste card now goes in the recycling, and any whole cards not suitable for tags and not worth keeping as decorations go to one of the recycling boxes in town – I think Boots was doing it last year?
12 Dec 2006
We managed to make all of our christmas tags this year from last years christmas cards and by saving the backs of the cards (written on) it was easy to compile a list of who to remember to send cards to this year (we seem to lose our card lists all the time!).
I was impressed with how ‘arty’ a bit of abstract card can look!
Cambridge, GB , 31 Jan 2007
As it’s nearly the end of January, I think it’s about time to get on with recycling the Christmas cards.
I send mine to volunteers at the Cobalt Appeal Fund (www.cobaltappeal.com) in Cheltenham, who turn them into new cards which are then sold to raise money for cancer research. Seems like a good way to recycle them! They’re looking for volunteers to make more cards by the looks of things, so if you live in the Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire area, you might consider it.
Cambridge, GB , 31 Jan 2007
As it’s nearly the end of January, I think it’s about time to get on with recycling the Christmas cards.
I send mine to volunteers at the Cobalt Appeal Fund (www.cobaltappeal.com) in Cheltenham, who turn them into new cards which are then sold to raise money for cancer research. Seems like a good way to recycle them! They’re looking for volunteers to make more cards by the looks of things, so if you live in the Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire area, you might consider it.
GB , 13 Mar 2007
I always put my christmas cards in a recycle bin – usually my employer provides on in our foyer, but no one seems to have them available all year for birthday cards. As birthdays come early in the year in our house (but too late for the christmas card recycle bins), they tend to be put in the loft and forgotten about. Would be good if tesco or WHSmith or someone could have a bin all year round.
Bristol, GB , 24 Jul 2007
Although I love giving and receiving cards I have made a conscious decision to cut down and now only send cards to people I will not see on or around Christmas. I have cut old cards into gift tags for several years now but would like to try making them into new cards this Christmas.
20 Jan 2009
i’ll collect them all up today: i was about to ask which shops are collecting them up but checkin the woodlands trust link above, its WH Smith, Tesco, TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer