Christmas is a busy time of year for everyone, full of parties and celebrations, but you'll often end up with a lot of rubbish at the end of it - including Christmas cards!

So recycling is your best option, with re-use being a close second, and in this post we'll be discussing how to do both.

Why should you recycle your Christmas cards?

Recycling your Christmas cards reduces the total amount of waste going to landfill, and reduces the dependance on virgin trees and other materials in the future. You're also saving energy which means less greenhouse gases will be used.

By recycling, you're helping to protect the environment and reverse global warming, contributing to a better world for everyone.

Impact of waste at Christmas time

Christmas is a time known for going big, whether that's food, presents, or alcohol. Food waste certainly accounts for a large amount of landfill waste, but you'll be surprised at what other numbers go up around Christmas time.

M.Harris suggests that the UK throws away billions of greetings cards every year at Christmas time, which is a massive amount of waste that we could save going to landfill, if we just chose an eco-friendly alternative.

A great alternative is to choose eco-friendly and sustainable Christmas cards such as these, which use lots of paper alternatives like coffee paper and even elephant dung paper!

Where can you recycle Christmas cards in 2022?

You can recycle most paper based cards in your normal paper recycling bins.

You can also recycle them at your household waste recycling centres at your local tip or large supermarket.

However, you can't recycle cards with glitter, ribbons, batteries, and other non-biodegradeable elements - so tear these off if you can before recycling.

If your card can't be recycled, consider re-using it using our ideas below.

Re-using Christmas Cards

If your Christmas card cannot be recycled, for example if it contains plastic or toxic materials, then why not re-use it?

Here are some creative ideas on how to re-use Christmas cards:

1. Decorations

You can collect the Christmas cards you can't recycle and turn them into decorations. That can be Christmas decorations, or something more unique for events like New Years Eve. This works particularly well for cards that have glitter or other unique elements in them.

One of the more unique ways of doing this is to cut up and stitch cards together to form Christmas themed houses, which can be lit up with lights to create a wonderful display.

2. Gift Tags

In many cases, you can cut the Christmas card into shapes, and re-use them as gift tags for birthdays and other occasions. Simply add a sticker over any text on the inside, and you've got a perfectly good gift card ready to go.

3. Place Settings

You can turn your old cards into place settings. This is best when you have lots of similar looking cards, so you can create a theme around them. This works great if you're having people over on New Years Eve or any other holiday, to add more intersting table settings.

4. Bookmarks

Colourful bookmarks are always a winner, so why not use a Christmas card to give yourself or others a sparkly bookmark for some Christmas reading?

Keep it Eco This Year

If you're looking to make some more eco-friendly swaps this year, then check out Earthbits.com.

We have a whole host of easy-to-swap sustainable alternatives to help you live a greener lifestyle, such as natural soap, toothpaste, makeup, and more!