17 December 2007
Press release
Christmas gets its green card

Did you know over 200,000 trees are felled each year to produce 1 billion Christmas cards, which according to the environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth are likely to end up in bins throughout the UK before we toast in the New Year?

Furthermore, according to Waste Online, around 150 million cards and packets are delivered each day during the pre-Christmas period fuelling our worries about carbon emissions.

"If just five percent of the one billion traditional Christmas paper greeting cards sent by the UK population were replaced with Christmas Charity Greeting box sets, our participating charities would be around £3 million better off,” says CharityGreetings.com co-founder, Craig Hartzel. “In addition, we wouldn’t have to dispose of around 50 million cards and approximately 10,000 trees would still be standing. What a fantastic Christmas present that would be."

Providing an innovative alternative to traditional greeting cards, CharityGreeting.com virtual cards allow environmentally, ethically minded consumers to donate to a charity of their choice, at the same time as sending a festive message. It only costs £2.99 to send 20 Christmas Charity Greetings.

“In today's 'green' conscious climate, the need to reduce paper usage and cut carbon emissions from delivery vehicles provides the perfect incentive to make the transition from paper cards and envelopes to online greetings cards,” says Hartzel. The latest Greeting Card Association statistics reveal that the British public buy more cards than in any other country, an average of 55 a year, making it the most flourishing greeting card industry in the world per head of population.

Consumers can support charities ranging from children charities to animal, environmental, health and medical research; there is a cause close to every heart.

A Charity Greeting is virtually posted through your friend’s email letterbox; it’s like getting the real thing saving on paper, stamps and avoiding postal delays.

Any charity can register with the service free of charge. "We want to increase charities' fundraising potential, while encouraging environmentally friendly practises,” says Hartzel.

Log onto www.CharityGreetings.com to send your Christmas Charity Greetings.
With various categories listed on CharityGreetings.com ranging from birthdays to congratulations, thank you, good luck, and even get well, users can support charity on more than one occasion throughout the year.

ENDS

Notes to editor:
1 - About CharityGreetings.com
CharityGreetings.com is an organisational member of the Institute of Fundraising and the Fundraising Standards Board, and offers a charitable and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional greeting cards. Every time a Charity Greetings is sent, money is donated to your specified charity.

For more information about CharityGreetings.com or Charity Greeting visuals please contact Craig Hartzel on 01923 827770 or email  Craig.Hartzel@CharityGreetings.com

2. CharityGreetings.com currently raises money for forty-one charities.