| It is thought that using recycled paper and card is | | | | on inclusive and shared responsibility for setting |
| beneficial for the environment, some greetings | | | | high social, environmental and economic standards |
| cards are produced using partially or all recycled | | | | for forest management. This type of card arrives |
| materials, however, during this process many | | | | in the UK in huge sheets on pallets and is stored |
| chemicals are used to bleach the card to a | | | | when it arrives at a printing company. There is no |
| commercially attractive white, and also there is | | | | need for further distribution by road and rail. |
| the journey this recycled card makes around the | | | | When a company is FSC accredited; all of the |
| globe before ending up on the shelf of a high | | | | paper, card and packaging that is used is |
| street store. | | | | sustainably sourced. The Company is the B2B side |
| Billions of tonnes of recycled card, and finished | | | | of the business, producing and printing hundreds |
| greetings cards, are produced in Eastern countries, | | | | of thousands of personalised calendars and |
| and is shipped in containers across the seas to | | | | corporate greetings cards every year for |
| the UK, belching out C02 into the atmosphere as | | | | companies in the UK. |
| the boats that are used burn fossil fuel. The | | | | As websites and technology continually improve, |
| majority of these vessels are decades old, and | | | | many greetings card orders are taken online. |
| were not built in a time of environmental | | | | Consumers take advantage of software that |
| conscience, so they are not efficient and run on | | | | enables consumers to personalise a card, as |
| the planet's dwindling fossil fuels. | | | | opposed to a mass-produced card on a rack in a |
| The greetings cards and recycled paper pulp to | | | | store with the same stock design. Personalisation |
| make greetings cards arrive in the UK in | | | | has reached new levels, with photo upload, and |
| containers and are then offloaded onto diesel | | | | image manipulation allowing any text to appear in |
| lorries. The greetings cards are driven the length | | | | thousands of designs on file. In this way the |
| and the breadth of the UK to distribution depots, | | | | consumer has the freedom to create a keepsake |
| which unpack the containers, and reload onto | | | | card which is unique to them. |
| vans and lorries to distribute to high street shops | | | | When the order is placed, the design is sent to |
| and supermarkets. | | | | the printers that print to order. Sheets are |
| In the UK we send on average 55 cards per | | | | printed, cut and folded, and best of all, no waste |
| person per year. That's a lot of cards. | | | | is produced. The card is then sent direct to the |
| The most popular annual occasions being | | | | recipient using the UK's most efficient postal |
| Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and | | | | service, the Royal Mail. So, the next time you are |
| Fathers Day, when these dates pass, the cards | | | | browsing a greetings card in a high street shop, |
| are taken off the shelves. Many stores are on a | | | | take a moment to consider whether you would |
| sale or return agreement, so back to the East | | | | benefit from using an online personalised greetings |
| they go, packed back into containers, and | | | | card company. This website has a print on |
| returned to the recycling plant, and the cycle | | | | demand ordering system producing personalised |
| starts all over again. | | | | cards, posters and calendars which are |
| Consider the benefits of buying FSC accredited | | | | environmentally friendly and also offer the |
| card, from sustainable sources, where trees are | | | | consumer total control when designing a card |
| planted and replaced as the felling takes place. | | | | online. |
| The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is founded | | | | |