About 2 billion holidays cards are sent every year, making Christmas the largest card-sending occasion in the United States. So, you are not alone when trying to decide what to do with the collection of holiday cards you have amassed. The good news is that whether its for a for a good cause or a good project, there are all sorts of ways to keep cards out of landfills.

1. Until February 15 St. Jude’s Ranch, a home and treatment center for abused, neglected and abandoned children, is accepting used greeting cards of all kinds, which their children use to create “new” (and green) cards that they sell.

2. For those of you in California, Arizona and Nevada, you can drop off cards at bins in Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets until January 20.  They will recycle them and donate the proceeds to American Forests. Last year, the holiday card recycling program raised enough money for American Forests to buy and plant 1,000 trees in areas devastated by wildfire. Amazingly, there does not seem to be a similar national program for recycling holiday cards. (is there an opportunity here…)

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A number of manufacturers are working on natural (non-dyed) paper impregnated with seeds. The idea is that if you plant items made of these papers flowers or trees will grow.

Bloomin’ Promotions and Seed Cards are two manufactures doing this type of thing.

I really don’t know what to make of this idea.

If properly used I am sure they would be a great learning tool, perhaps in an educational setting - write a letter to the planet, plant the letter in the school yard and see it live - that type of thing.

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Perhaps you’ve noticed gift and holiday supplies proudly claiming recycled, post-consumer, chlorine-free, or tree-free? Sounds nice, but are you confused? Most consumers are when trying to decipher it all. Frustrations peak when claims are misleading.

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When choosing a gift, consider buying from a fair trade store. While your gift will probably be imported (which is energy intensive) extra money you spend to buy fair trade allows farmers to produce goods that are more sustainable. According to the Labor-Religion Coalition, buying fair trade protects the environment by “reducing or eliminating pesticide use, increasing composting and maintaining biodiversity.”

For those who would like to avoid the buying option I suggest crafting a gift by hand. Not only are handmade gifts a sincere expression of how much you care for the recipient, since you took the time and effort to create the gift, but if done right you can use virtually no energy. Here are two ideas I have used in the past which also encourage re-use:

• Juice pouch bags- I saw Capri Sun bags being sold commercially and thought, “I can totally make that myself,” so I did. I found this pattern online for my own attempt, pictured above.

• Denim jean pockets- When you are sick of a pair of jeans try making something neat out of them. In one of my teen magazines from way back when they suggested you cut out the back pocket and glue magnets to the back so you can use it to hold pens and pencils on your fridge.

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Comedian Ed Byrne on card recycling, mincemeat, and his father’s annual holiday fart joke…

(via Ecostreet)