Today’s window on our Green Tips Advent Calendar opens for our Eco-Crafters, who have a session every Thursday 10am-2pm, lead by Emma, they want to tell you about making Christmas cards and why…
Making your own eco-friendly Christmas cards is great fun and can help reduce your environmental impact and encourage a more sustainable way of giving:
- Reduce waste It’s estimated that over 1 billion Christmas cards are thrown away each year, which is equivalent to 33 million trees. Making your own cards can help reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.
- Reduce carbon footprint – Recycled paper production requires less energy and water than producing new paper, which can help reduce your carbon footprint.
- Support a greener paper industry – Choosing recycled cards encourages paper generators to prioritize recycled paper production over virgin paper.
- Inspire others – Choosing eco-friendly cards can inspire others to think about their own holiday habits and make more sustainable choices.
- Add a personal touch – You can add a personal touch to your cards by decorating them with your own unique content.
You can also consider other eco-friendly options, such as:
- Buying cards printed on FSC-certified, recycled card
- Choosing reusable greeting cards
- Sending ecards instead of traditional paper cards
Make your own Christmas Cards
To help you make your own cards, we made this example for you. You will need;
- Blank card and envelope
- White card/thick paper, same size as your card and enverlope
- Low tac tape, we used washi tape
- Red and green paint, we used watercolour
- Red pen
- Green pen
- Gold pen
- Glue
Here is how to make one:
- Put tape down on the paper to form a triangle shape
- Add some red paint
- Add some dark green paint
- Add some lighter green
- Add some green pen details
- Add some red pen details
- Add some gold pen details
- Remove tape
- Add some black pen details
- Glue the paper to the blank card
To stop your card being one of those 1 billion Christmas cards that are thrown away every year, why not write it in pencil and add the message ‘please re-use or keep me’. Now wouldn’t be a card that you would like to receive next year. Merry Christmas everyone!