Our small choices as consumers can make a big impact on the planet
It is estimated that UK consumers send 1 billion Christmas cards each year. Although these cards can be both biodegradable and easily recyclable, they can also be the product of deforestation or poor forestry practices, if they are not sourced responsibly.
You might be thinking that we should be cutting down on the number of Christmas cards we send to save paper but we are a nation of card lovers in the UK, we send more per head than any other nation! Whilst it’s much easier to send Christmas well wishes digitally these days, we still love sending and receiving Christmas cards. Research by Oxfam found that nine out of ten people in the UK prefer to receive a real Christmas card instead of a text or email. Although they seem like a small gesture, a lot of effort goes into choosing, writing, and posting a card.
Digital messages just don’t seem to be able to replace that warm fuzzy feeling of reading a handwritten message from friends and family near and far. Plus, many of us like to use the cards we receive as Christmas decorations – and you definitely can’t do that with an email or a text!
Choose forest friendly cards this Christmas
So, at FSC UK, we want to ensure that, if you do choose to send Christmas cards, that you choose FSC-certified cards (or materials, if you’re into making your own Christmas cards) to help to take care of forests, and the people and wildlife that depend on them.
All you have to do is look out for the FSC tick tree logo, this ensures the cards are made with materials from responsibly managed forests and/or recycled sources.
Take the FSC Christmas Card Pledge
We have one simple ask this year, choose FSC-certified cards to spread forest friendly Christmas cheer!
We are asking people to take the pledge to buy FSC-certified cards, or FSC-certified materials to make Christmas cards, this year to help support responsible forestry.
If you take the pledge, and send us a photo of one of the FSC-certified cards you’re sending, you’ll be entered into our giveaway to win a £100 John Lewis gift card.
How to take part:
- Take the pledge to buy FSC-certified Christmas cards or make your own using FSC-certified materials by signing up here (we'll then send you some tips on how to have a more forest friendly Christmas)
- To enter the giveaway, you will also need to send us a photo on Facebook (remember to tag us in the post/story/comment so we can see @FSC UK) or Instagram (@foreststewardshipcounciluk) to show us the FSC-certified cards you’re going to send before 2 January, using the hashtag #FSCXmasPledge.
- Remember to recycle your Christmas cards after the big day is over! Shockingly, only one out of every four Christmas cards is recycled. Recycling your cards makes the best use of the tree, reduces the amount of waste going to landfill and helps to reduce the demand on the world’s forests.
Not sure how to find FSC-certified Christmas cards?
We've put some tips together below to help
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Tips for shopping in-store
- Look for the FSC label – this is normally found on the reverse or individual cards or packs of cards.
- The FSC label should contain the unique FSC licence code of the FSC certificate holder who applied it (FSC®C000000) – you can check this on our database if you like.
- Remember that some retailers will sell both FSC-certified and uncertified cards so just because one range is certified it doesn’t necessarily mean that all ranges are certified – look for the label to make sure.
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Tips for shopping online
- Buy from an FSC-licensed retailer (look for an FSC licence code on their website e.g. FSC®C000000 / FSC®N000000) – you can check this on our database if you like - we’ve included links to just a few of the many FSC licensed retailers below to get you started
- Look for FSC-certified products on their website (usually indicated by an FSC logo on the product page and/or ‘FSC/Forest Stewardship Council’ in the product description) For example:
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Remember that some retailers will sell both FSC-certified and uncertified cards so just because one range is certified it doesn’t necessarily mean that all ranges are certified – look for the FSC logo in the product description to make sure.
Look out for an FSC label on the cards you receive - this is normally found on the reverse of individual cards or packs of cards.
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Where can I find FSC-certified Christmas cards?
You might be surprised just how easy it is to find FSC-certified cards, we’ve listed some of the retailers that sell them below. Please note, this is not a full list, this is just to give you an idea of how easy they are to find (remember that some retailers will sell both FSC-certified and uncertified cards so look for the label to make sure!):
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Are FSC-certified Christmas cards more expensive?
Not usually, the price of cards varies between retailers but the price is usually based on their decorations, rather than whether the materials have been responsibly sourced or not.
Giveaway Terms & Conditions
To enter, follow the steps above. We will use the Christmas Card Pledge mailing list to send you some tips on how to have a more forest friendly Christmas (don’t worry – we won’t spam you or pass your email address onto anyone else, we'll send you a few emails during the course of the pledge to help keep you motivated). After the pledge ends in January, we will delete the mailing list. After this, if you would like to keep up to date with the latest FSC news, you can always subscribe to our monthly newsletter here.
This giveaway is open to UK residents only.
The giveaway starts at 09:00am (GMT) on 01/11/2023 and closes at 09:00am (GMT) on 02/01/2024.
One entry per person.
If you unsubscribe before the giveaway closes, you will not be entered into the giveaway draw.
One winner will be selected randomly on 04/01/2024. They will be contacted by the FSC UK Communications Team via the email address provided when signing up to the newsletter.
This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with, Instagram, Facebook or John Lewis.
As a side note, please be aware of scams on social media. The last time we ran a giveaway, a scam page pretending to be us was set up on Facebook, this page was replying to comments on our social media posts and messaging people to tell them that they had won the giveaway, then asking them to click on links to provide their bank details. Whilst we may reply to some comments on social media, we will not announce the winner on there. We will contact the winner by the email address provided when signing up to the newsletter and will not be asking for your bank details. Please do not click on any links from suspicious pages and let us know if you come across any scams so we can report them.