By Sophy, Good Energy

 Having tackled the challenge of an eco-friendly stocking , next on the To Do list at this time of year is Christmas cards.

For the truly green of heart, the most environmental option is either recycling last year’s cards (although finding recyclable envelopes to fit all shapes and sizes can be a bit of challenge) or e-cards.

Good Energy’s partner Friends of the Earth can help you with both. It sells Christmas-themed labels which enable you to reuse old cards, and labels for reusing envelopes. 

They’ve also got a good selection of e-cards.  http://www.foe.co.uk/cards/

If you’re like me though, last year’s cards get recycled into this year’s parcel tags. Though I do send e-cards to my friends abroad because it’s so much cheaper, for friends closer to home I enjoy the ritual of going through my address book and writing messages to those people I rarely see in a traditional-style card. 

I make sure I always buy recycled cards direct from a charity so that the maximum benefit from the card goes to the charity - preferably a charity with an eco-agenda. Here’s some ideas:

• Good Energy partner Actionaid has a good range of 100% recycled cards. 
• The World Wildlife Fund has some 100% recycled cards, others are printed on FSC certified card. 
• Oxfam has a huge range to choose from to suit all styles and prices, and all their cards are 50% recycled and 50% FSC certified. Plus, the beauty of Oxfam is that there’s probably a branch on your local High Street, so you can check out the website now and then go shopping. 
• The Woodland Trust also sells 50 % recycled, 50% FSC certified cards  - and when the festivities are over they will ensure that all your cards are properly recycled and thousands of trees are planted to replace them. Just drop them off at branches of WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and TK Maxx. 

Or you could always save them up for sending next year – which takes us back to the start.