tis the season.... for differently-giving

[lagilman]

A number of years ago I looked at how much I was spending on holiday cards, and considered how long those cards were actually looked at/displayed, and decided to do something slightly radical.

I wasn't going to send out cards* out any more.

Instead, I take the cost of those cards, add in the cost of postage, and donate that sum to the local food bank**.

So when you don't get a card from me, don't assume I wasn't thinking of you -- I was. And so are the people you've never met, who are getting a meal they might not have, otherwise.


This is a thing I chose to do, not a requirement for anyone else, obviously. I just wanted people to know that they hadn't been forgotten. :-)





*I do still send out a few, but the days of "okay, I need a hundred cards..." are gone.
** in a better economy I could afford to do both. Hopefully someday again.***
*** then again, the time it takes to sign/address a hundred+ cards? I could write a short story. So....

Comments

[chicating.livejournal.com]

Probably better...more sustainable, too.
Wish more e-cards were less...well, LAME.

[deire.livejournal.com]

Er, are they lame if you draw the art and design them yourself?

Wow,

[chicating.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't think so. The ones I have a choice of, as a non-artist, are, though. Or at least enough that I don't send them, myself.

[deire.livejournal.com]

Still waiting to hear on the paperwork for the job everyone tells me I definitely got....So, I drew my own art for cards this year. Some are going out as email attachments, because that only costs me time. Only the non techies are getting cards, and those are all older relatives. I'm really, really hoping people don't mind.

[girasole.livejournal.com]

I applaud your idea, and the more because you share it. I love Christmas/Solstice/holiday/New Year cards because I love seeing what people choose, and what they tell us of their lives. I take people off our list who continue to send a card with just a signature, because, really, I want to know what is with you.

We have been writing a Christmas Letter since 1981. There are four in our household, and there is a lot to say, and while we do have to write it and print it and mail it, it is not so big an expense.

E-greetings are quite nice, but I cannot hang them up nor make gift tags out of them. That's a loss. I do love getting other people's letters, too.