April 15th, 2009 by Solange

Earth day is almost upon us this April and it is my job to convince you to start using ecards and making your own eco friendly papercards. Before I get to that, I hope you all have celebrated Easter Sunday and have filed your taxes. Tax season can be stressful - almost like cramming for a college final. So for the rest of this month, I suggest we all just enjoy the more precious and simple things in life.

One simple thing you can do is send e-cards: they are fast and convenient. No need to go traipsing the shops looking for the right card with the perfect message. From the comfort of your home, you choose via an on-line catalogue. It is simply amazing how one simple ecard can rebuild lost friendships, rekindle shared memories and simply just make someone happy & smile.

Ecards are very versatile since it can be personalized with sound, animation, a message, photo or a video. You specify the recipient’s e-mail and with a few clicks your greetings are send and received. This process allows to send cards in bulk. The e-card concept is seemingly superior to the traditional paper card, but there is something about being able to hold, touch and frame a physical paper card that adds to the etiquette and security over ecards. If it is widely acceptable to send holiday e-greetings to people you know are often on line, it is common sense not to send your best wishes to a person you know to be technophobic. Really no point to do so, a message not open is a good as a message not received.

That brings me to the security aspect, “is it safe?”, there is malice out there and you can’t be blamed for being careful, so make sure that when cards are send the recipient will recognize where it comes from. Moreover some people are mostly on line at work and companies take a dim view at their employees using the computer for their own needs. 

There is no denying that the environmental nature of e-cards is an argument which can’t be beaten by the traditional paper card, however there are situations when sending an e-card, would be a real faux-pas: condolences are not really best acknowledge electronically.

Reliability and cost are 2 other aspects worth considering. Each Christmas, I send cards to all my colleagues and work-partners, sadly that year, I left it far too late, even in a country where the mail is reliable, sometimes too late is, well…. too late. I was extremely glad to find a catalogue which I liked then. The other thing I realised was that the impact on my purse, so much so that a few people who had been omitted in the previous year had the surprise to hear from me, which had an expected consequence: I got to meet up with these friends again.

So for Earth day this month, I really hope you consider trying out ecards. You will be surprised at how simple yet effective it is. If you are still not convinced, stay tuned for my next posts where I share tips and tricks to create your own earth friendly cards!