We are constantly being told that we should make less, buy less and recycle more, but in a consumerist society it is an incredibly difficult thing to achieve. The only thing that may well allow us to cut back on throwing things in the bin is developments in communication technology. How so you may wonder, well sending E Cards over the internet rather than post a slice of card is one such example.

Sending something by post is an enormous demand on resources which commands a spectacularly large carbon footprint. Firstly a tree has to grow so it can be felled. Then the felled tree has to be processed. The pulp from the tree is bleached and mixed with a plethora of chemicals to create card or paper. This paper then needs to be printed. Bear in mind that each step of this process requires energy, which doesn’t come from a hamster running in a wheel.

Then there is transportation. At each stage, tonnes of paper and card are transported by road, rail, air and water to reach yet another destination to undergo further processing. Once made, these cards are then distributed to a retailer, once again burning fossil fuels, and the journey doesn’t end there. Once bought, we pop it back in the post to travel by vehicle to somewhere else far away, where, if you’re lucky, once read it is recycled, if not, it’s chucked in the bin.

Sending greetings cards is usually a transient gesture for a fleeting moment. Growing and felling trees and consuming fuel is a long lasting activity that has a huge impact on many environments. E Cards on the other hand, produce no waste and use comparatively less energy than traditional greetings cards. They also have the added bonus that they are instant, ideal for the moment that you realise a loved-ones birthday has already arrived!

In fact, E Cards represent the nature of these events perfectly. Birthdays, anniversaries and celebrations are fleeting moments of celebration, and an E Card reflects the fleeting transience of the moment perfectly. Yes, using a computer and making servers fire up to locate an internet search uses precious fossil fuels and generates its own carbon footprint, but this is nothing compared to the transportation of paper products and postal items, not to mention the needless felling of trees. May be the E in E Cards should stand for Eco.

Dom Donaldson is an environmental expert.
Find out more about E Cards and how to send greetings that don’t cost the earth at Katies Cards.

[tags]E Cards, electronic cards, greetings cards, environmental[/tags]