The Greeting Card Association issued a report in 2017 with staggering statistics. Guess how many Christmas cards were bought? More than one billion! This was made up of almost 100 million single cards and 900 million more in boxes/packs. Plus millions more on Moonpig and other online stores.
Now that's an awful lot of cards to be dealt with after Christmas. The tradition of 12th night is that you take down all Christmas decorations and cards before midnight on 5 January. That's tomorrow.
So, what to do with your Christmas cards?
1. Most can be put in your usual recycling bin. Just be aware though that If they have glitter on them, ribbons or other decorations, that these can't be recycled and need to be removed first.
2. If you have a Sainsburys supermarket near you, take them along as they're collecting cards, wrapping paper and fairy lights on behalf of the Forest Stewardship Council who are a charity set up to protect the world's forests. But you better be quick as the collection service finishes on Monday 8 January. If you don't have a Sainsburys near you, you could check other local supermarkets to see if they're doing something similar.
3. This one could appeal to some of you...a bit of upcycling/recycling. Someone I know cuts up last year's Christmas cards to make this year's Christmas gift tags.
And if you're wondering who came up with the idea of Christmas cards in the first place...it was a British invention by Sir Henry Cole in 1843 who thought it would be a good way to encourage people to use the Post Office or The Public Record Office as it was called back then. Read all about him here. It was designed by his friend John Horsley, who was an artist.
Doreen 😀
www.ClutterClearingUK.com