Reuse & Recycle

Every year at Christmas time we get showered with cards and nice greetings. We all enjoy this but what comes after? Some of us keep our cards for a long period of time however; the vast majority of us throw them out. Throwing these away creates waste that the planet does not need. Today, we need to rethink how we do things if we are going to make a difference in the environment. In this article we will look at various ways to reuse and recycle old Christmas cards.

For those that are not highly creative or motivated, the choice is fairly obvious. Recycling is the best option. If the local community does not have a paper recycling program then look into charities that recycle Christmas cards. There will be likely one of the two options in the area.

For those that love to make things, reuse and recycling can be loads of fun. A great project that can be made from old Christmas cards is book marks. This simply involved some poster board. Glue and the cards from this past year. By cutting out the images and pasting them onto the strips, some beautiful Christmas bookmarks can be made. These make wonderful gifts for the next year. Remember, the clippings and bits that are not used can still be recycled.

Gift tags are also another possibility for old Christmas and greeting cards. One follows the same procedure as the bookmarks except for the size of the card. Pinking scissors can also be used to create a nice edge.

With some contact paper or laminate, beautiful placemats can be made from reused and recycled Christmas cards. Simple place them how desires and trim them into shape. Apply the contact paper or laminate and their finished. These will make lovely placemats to be used year after year.

We need to reuse and recycle much more if the planet is going to make a turn around. By making new items from old greeting cards, the wastage will be cut down and some lovely items created.