Recyle Christmas cards to help British woodlands

Recycling your Christmas Cards this January 2018

Sulk, sulk - M&S aren't running their Christmas card scheme this year.   

However, you do have the opportunity to help the Woodland Trust or another chosen charity (WWF, the Marine Conservation Society for instance) if you sign up for their Sparks card and chose them as your charity.  Every time you shop using Sparks, M&S give a penny to your chosen cause.  Find out more about the M&S Sparks Card here.

The FSC - the Forest Stewardship Council - did run a Christmas card collection scheme with Sainsbury's this year, but the deadline for dropping cards off was 8th January, so that's passed.

So here are 9 things you can do to recycle Chirstmas cards:

1. Cut them up into smallish squares or rectangles and put them by your house phone to write messages on or make a note of things you need to get
2. Turn them into gift tags to put onto presents – you could use them during the year if the picture isn’t terribly related to Christmas, or use them to label next year’s Christmas presents
3. Use them to write a love note on the back to a loved one to find as they come home – you could just put “Hope you’ve had a good day, see you later xxx” or something like that on it
4. Use them to write a note to somebody when you drop something off – you could write a message on it and pop it into a bag with whatever it is you’ve dropped off
5. Cut the picture bit off and use the back of it as a post-card
6. Save them and get the kids to turn them into something to decorate the house with next Christmas
7. Keep them somewhere safe for next year’s supermarket collection for charity.  Hopefully the FSC will run their scheme again with Sainsbury’s but their collection dates seem to be short and finish early!
8. Put them in your recycle bin for collection – but not if they have glitter or foil or anything extra on them
9. Vow to send e-cards instead next year!

Enjoy them while you’ve got them!

About FSC

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) helps take care of forests and the people and wildlife who call them home.  FSC is an international, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world’s forests

About the Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust's work is vital to help preserve British woodland and also crucially to preserve the habitat of thousands of UK species.   It works to protect ancient woodland and create new - such as the First World War Centenary Woods. It cares for over 1,000 woods, which are open to the public every day of the year.

British woodlands are vital to wildlife, and also in absorbing CO2 and producing oxygen - they are the British equivalent to the Amazon rainforest.

Wildlife needs woodland Many animals live in British woodlands; some may not be there all the year round, but there's no doubt that wildlife need woodlands. These include animals & species such as: shrews squirrels mice woodmice hedgehogs foxes deer birds butterflies insects invertebrates beetles stoats badgers bats spiders slow worms  voles weasels wasps bees adders flies

You can also find out more about the Trust's work to restore ancient woodland and why it's so important here.  There are ways to get involved and help in this work - we can all make a difference.  

 Click here to visit the M&S website

Find out about the M&S Sparks card & choose a charity to support

Click here to visit the Woodland Trust's website

Send an e-card

Save used stamps for animal charities