Itty Bitty Bonzai #17

January 19th, 2010 - filed under: Furthermore » Itty Bitty Bonzai

Itty Bitty Bonzai is a collection of tiny tips and tricks for living a life more mindful. Small actions, collectively and compounded, become a powerful force of change.

#17

So the holidays are over and you’ve got a pile of greetings and gift cards, on display and collecting dust in a corner of the living room. But they’ve got to come down eventually, and unfortunately most will find their way into the rubbish bin.

Of course you, diligent Bonzai readers, would never trash that precious card stock, I’m sure. We’re all recyclers here, are we not?

But what about doing one better? Instead of tossing them in with the newspapers and tomato tins, why not hold on to them for later use? Simply remove that pretty (and valuable) front! (leaving the back, inscribed with your relative’s well wishes, to recycle) Now you have a brand new post card, a clever thank-you note, or a lovely gift tag!

You can also wrap a gift in simple brown paper (re-use a paper grocery bag), then tape the recycled card front to it, to add a festive image.

So save your holiday cards for the next years festivities! But don’t forget to save other cards throughout the year – this works equally well for Valentines, birthdays, and beyond!

BONZAI!

sign-off

  • http://easierthanyouthink.wordpress.com Ginger Baker

    Card stock of all sort is also *excellent* for making pasties from – and a fabulous way to reuse those show flyers you accumulate!

  • Tenise Rae

    Brilliant! (This is my new word apparently.) LOL

  • april

    pasties? how so?

  • Minna

    (:

    I am So Very glad that you’re back. I’ve been checking BA everyday :P Ohh, I hope things are well with you and your family… <3

    I usually collect all of the cards I get. I have been collecting them since I was tiny. Nowadays no one really sends me greeting cards anymore, but those that I have collected (and it's the only thing I collect (except for jewelry, haha…)) are very precious to me. There are cards from relatives that are not alive anymore, friends that I don't know nothing about anymore… You know. Precious!

    But. It's an important thing to treat those (sometimes not quite so important) greeting cards like you would treat any other recyclable material. It's just that.. in a way.. doesn't it sound weird? Recycling your relatives' and friends' cards with well wishes? :D It sure does sound noble, though!

    Hehe. I don't know. I guess I couldn't recycle any of those :) Maybe just except for those ones that only have "Merry Christmas" already written on them with nothing else actually inside.

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Ginger Baker – Haha, awesome! You’re a burlesque dancer, no?

    @ Tenise Rae – Thank you! =D

    @ Minna – Thanks lady, it’s good to be back.

    Your card collection does sound precious, it’s so beautiful that you’ve kept them all. I understand why you would feel weird about recycling them! Me, I can’t keep them because the clutter makes me crazy. I’m a ‘pare down’ type of person, so for me this makes a lot of sense. But I totally understand what you’re saying. Different strokes for different folks!