E cards are easier to send than paper greetings and are eco-friendly. More people are deciding to send eco-friendly options today than they were 10 years ago and are some are sending them instead of paper versions to help challenge climate change and reduce carbon footprints.

Shocking figures show that each year, over 312,000 trees are cut down to serve the greeting card industry in the US, UK and Australasia. The industrial process employed in creating paper greetings involves toxic inks and chemicals to print and finish the products. Delivery of the raw materials and transporting them to suppliers burns carbon emitting fuels and once finished, cars, trucks and aeroplanes take the purchased cards to their recipients. These processes and journeys add up to a large carbon footprint for each paper card, news which distresses many people who feel that more needs to be done to reduce carbon emissions. Ecards still have an impact on the environment, but it is so tiny it is virtually neutral.

People buy on average 30 greeting cards a year which totals a whopping £88 a year when you include the cost of first class post, which in today’s current economic climate, is too much money. More people are opting to use low cost e-cards because they are a great way to make additional saving’s on international postage charges, leading many to opt for the electronic version over the paper version as their friends and family members have moved globally.

In the past, many thought the electronic version were crass and impersonal but, some e card websites are making more effort to produce high quality ecards and in return for this they are charging a membership fee. The most popular types are obviously Christmas e cards and birthday e cards, but many companies are producing greetings for holidays such as Easter, Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Labor Day, Diwali, Ramadan, Thanksgiving, and many more as well as cards celebrating occasions such as weddings, new babies or new homes.

For many people nowadays, e cards are filling a gap where paper varieties once were the only option. People have busier lives nowadays and need last-minute solutions to greetings at times when they cannot get to a shop or post office. The e card industry is providing these people with a quick fix to this problem which is also cheap and virtually carbon neutral. A lot of the people using e cards are sending paper types as well to a select few of their special friends and family, allowing room for both types in the market for the moment.

This article was written by Racheal Ellis, website marketing manager of Katies Cards.

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