4 Quick Tips To Make Recycling Your Old Christmas Cards Even Easier
As the owner of a greeting card business, Jess A Little Creative, I love cards. Cards containing thoughtful handwritten messages help us connect, and they help us show support to our loved ones during the best and worst of times. Some cards, of course, you will want to treasure forever. Greeting cards can become incredibly sentimental and treasured possessions. But even I don't keep every single card I receive, especially at Christmas. So how do you recycle your old Christmas cards? Sustainability is another issue very close to my heart, so I have put together 4 quick tips to make recycling your old Christmas cards even easier. Read on for the recycling low-down…
1. Which Christmas cards can even be recycled in the first place?
Here at Jess A Little Creative, I ensure all of my cards are completely recyclable (with recycled envelopes too!). But not all Christmas cards can immediately be popped into your recycling box at home (or taken to a local recycling point such as a household waste recycling centre or supermarket). For a Christmas card to be recycled, it must consist purely of card. So…
- Ensure you remove any embellishments that may be stuck to your Christmas cards, like bows, or 3D elements stuck on with adhesive.
- Remove any sections of the card that are covered in glitter.
- Ensure any glue, adhesive and other non-paper elements that will contaminate the card during the recycling process are removed.
- Cards cannot be recycled if they have any plastic, glitter, ribbon or batteries or electronics attached to them (yep, musical cards are still a thing!). Batteries can be recycled at battery recycling points.
It may feel like a faff, but there is no planet B. It takes seconds, and will mean your Christmas cards are recycled properly and sustainably. Caring for, and protecting our planet, has to be a priority, and this is an easy way to help. Don't forget about the envelopes too! They can generally be popped straight into your recycling box, but don't forget to remove the stamp first (I'll explain why shortly).
2. How do I know how to recycle my old Christmas cards? What should I look out for?
I totally get it, recycling is a minefield these days. So many different bins and boxes, certain things can be recycled in certain areas, and others not. It can feel like a lot of effort, but I promise you it's generally very straightforward, and it's so worth it. These little things can really help make everyone's Christmas more sustainable. I would always recommend looking on the back of a Christmas card for recycling information, most large greeting card companies will print that information and it will tell you what can be recycled and where. However, if the Christmas cards have come from small businesses or local makers, that information may not always be immediately obvious. In which case, follow my advice from the previous tip above and you will be on the right track. As long as what you’re putting in your recycling box is 100% paper and card, you should be ok.
It is also worth noting that some supermarkets offer Christmas card recycling services at Christmas time, which often support a charity. So it’s worth looking into that too. You could help raise some money for charity simply by popping your cards in their recycling bin at the supermarket, instead of your recycling bin at home. Ask a member of staff at your local supermarket and see if they have a Christmas card recycling scheme running.
3. Did you know you can donate old Christmas card stamps to charity?
Remember I told you to save the stamps from your envelopes before putting them in your recycling bin? There is an amazing reason for this. You can spread even more Christmas cheer as you recycle your Christmas cards, as old Christmas card stamps can be donated to charity. Many charities can turn old stamps into money for their incredible ongoing projects and work.
All you need to do is cut the stamp off the envelope (ensuring you leave around 1cm of envelope border around the stamp). Many charities will accept old stamps, so you can choose which charity you’d like to support, and find the address to send the old stamps to on the charity’s website. What a fantastic, simple way to do a good deed. We all know postage is getting more and more expensive these days, so let's make our stamps go further and support some incredible causes with them.
4. How can I make it easier for my friends and family to recycle their Christmas cards too?
If you're worried about the Christmas cards you send ending up in landfill, here are some simple tips that will make it as easy as possible for your Christmas cards to be recycled. Sending Christmas cards is such an important tradition. It keeps us all connected, it spreads joy and love, and can combat loneliness too. Following these steps ensures it is a tradition that can live on for a long, long time:
- Don’t buy cards with any glitter or extra embellishments that can’t be recycled. The easiest way to recycle, is to just pop the card straight in the recycling bin. So choose cards where that can be done without having to remove any fiddly bits first.
- Buy cards that are packaged plastic-free to avoid unnecessary waste
- Buy Christmas cards from local makers and small businesses, who often make their cards as eco-friendly as possible and care deeply for the environment.
Jess A Little Creative cards are all 100% recyclable, plastic-free, and I plant trees for every order placed on my website. Have a browse of my greeting card designs or find out more about Jess A Little Creative.
Of course, there are other things you can do with your old Christmas cards, they don’t just have to go in the recycling box! Bonus tip number 5…
5. Make your own cards and gift tags from last year’s Christmas cards
This is a super fun way to reuse old Christmas cards. You can cut them up, and create new cards and gift tags from them to send the following year. A great way to do some Christmas crafting which gets the whole family involved. I have put together a whole tutorial on creating gift tags from Christmas cards which is very easy to follow: How To Create Beautiful Handmade Gift Tags From Your Old Christmas Cards
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So there you have it, 4 quick tips to make recycling your old Christmas cards even easier (with a bonus 5th tip for a bit of fun!). As I have explained, the key thing is to ensure all you are putting in your recycling bin is paper or card, and that any additional embellishments are removed first. Also remember to recycle your envelopes too, first removing any stamps as they can be donated to charity. And I also shared some top tips around picking Christmas cards that are easily recycled too. I hope this was all useful and helpful, and will inspire you to recycle your Christmas cards this year, rather than just throwing them in the bin.
If you have enjoyed this article and are passionate about sending sustainable greeting cards that won’t cost the earth, do consider looking at the wide range of greeting cards I have available on my website. They are all 100% recyclable, packaged plastic-free and printed in very small batches (no mass production over here).
Hope this has been useful - enjoy recycling your old Christmas cards and doing your bit for our beautiful planet! Thanks for reading, Jess x
