Reduce, Re-use, Recycle - greetings cards

I think I may be getting through to people on my greeting card views. I managed to only get a couple this year.
I stopped sending cards myself years ago because they seemed to me to be a waste of money and natural resources. Looking at the statistics, the USA produces about 7 Billion cards a year and the UK around 2 Billion (a BBC article says 2.6, the Greeting card association (GCA) say over 1.5) We recycle less than half of our paper waste both in the UK and the USA so that means potentially around 5 Billion cards and envelopes end up in landfills every year!

Reduce!
Greeting cards have no real purpose other than to let someone know you are thinking of them but there are so many other ways to do that which are more personal and effective.
The phrase "You are off/on my Xmas card list" is a familiar one and working through a list is all this ritual has become for a lot of people like a virus ridden computer sending out meaningless messages to all your contacts. If you have a Christmas card list, instead of spending an evening writing your name on a stack of cards, why not spend that time making phone calls or sending emails instead? you'll not only be saving the planet but actually making a social connection with people too.

Re-use
If you have received cards this year, why not try of think of ways to re-use them. For example cut them down to use as tags on Xmas gifts by cutting them into square or rectangular shapes and punching holes in the corners for string or ribbon or to make home made cards to send to people on your list.

Recycle
We still don't recycle enough of our household waste, so please remember to put old cards and envelopes in the relevant recycling bins.


I was hoping that all this money being spent on wasted paper might be helping charities but according the the GCA the UK greeting card industry is worth over £1.7 Billion annually and Charities estimate that £50m is raised for good causes through the sales of charity Christmas cards. So OK, £50 million is a lot of money, but out of a total of £1,700 million (it seems everyone is using the American billion now) that's only 2.9%

I felt your presents

I've been thinking about Xmas presents recently. I wonder if anyone else has? Hmm...

Anyway, I kind of really love giving presents and also kind of hate it. I mean getting an awesome present for someone which really clicks with them and makes them go wow when they open it is cool. Its not about the cost of the item, but how cool and specific to that recipient it is. It's all about the message "I thought long and hard and found this item which I think will excite and engage you"
The other end of the spectrum is the reason I hate giving presents. When you can't find something good or don't know someone well enough and end up falling back on a standard gift idea just because it is Xmas or whatever and you're expected to give something. Socks and toiletries are the epitome of this concept, they give the message "I had 20 mins left in my lunch break so I grabbed this from the gift aisle" and frankly I think I'd rather no message than that.

Maybe I'm jaded by my experiences as a kid. One year I wanted a science kit, which seemed at the time to be the best thing in the world!! It was probably something like this:

(We are talking about over 20 years ago, so a bit different)
What I got instead was something more like this:

The way I perceived it as a child, the lower spec kit was a cruel parody of the amazing science bonanza I wanted, I'd already imagined the things I could invent and now those dreams were crushed.
Wrapping paper gives you the expectation that what is inside is something special. Unwrapping something mediocre is like stepping through the back of the wardrobe and not finding yourself in Narnia but Grimsby town centre.

I'd love to hear comments on whether this blog has revolutionised or ruined Xmas for you?

X X X

Introduction to OurBandShirts

I guess I should start this blog off with a bit of an intro to OurBandShirts.co.uk.

There were a few things which got me thinking that this would be a good idea and being obese was actually one of them. (For the record I lost 25% of my bodyweight this year and the obesity is over with, I now have a load of clothes way too big for me ) But the point about the obesity was that when I went to gigs and they were selling shirts, they never had my size.
Whilst it may not make sense to get XXXL shirts printed for your merch stand, there are people out there who want it. The same must go for girls who don't like the standard unisex shirts or people who prefer vest tops etc.
Then there were the bands who don't have a merch stand. If there are people watching you play, there has to be a chance that at least a few of them might want to wear your T-shirts. Maybe it's the cost of buying the stock or the prospect of lugging boxes of unsold shirts around or just the fact that you need someone to actually do the selling every night but a lot of bands aren't selling shirts.

So, I set a goal to remedy these obstacles and I think I've pretty much got it. With OurBandShirts a band can sell shirts in a whole range of sizes, styles and colours. They don't need to fork out cash they might not recoup. And perhaps best of all, they don't need to lug around boxes and do the selling themselves :)

Along the way I realised that for a band, signing up to sell their shirts through my site would also bring extra benefits. As I intend to promote the site, that is going to mean promoting the bands on the site. So even if no shirts get sold, a band who are listed on OurBandShirts.co.uk will get increased exposure through things like this blog and my tweeting, facebooking and digging.

Now all I need to do is get the word out to the bands and get them onboard...