If you love the thought of sending Christmas cards, but worry about the environmental consequences, you’ll be pleased to know you can put pen to paper while having a positive impact – and not just by sending FSC-approved cards.
Because, for the fifth year running, the Woodland Trust is working with Marks & Spencer to turn your cards into trees with its national Christmas card recycling scheme.
Bring your cards into stores by 31 January each year and for every 1,000 cards collected, M&S will sponsor the planting of a tree by the Woodland Trust where they are most needed throughout the UK.
A short walk through a local park or woods on a crisp morning is enough to remind anyone of the beneficial effects that trees have on our mental and physical wellbeing. They are particularly important in cities, softening the landscape and giving shade where heat builds up around the concrete. Of course, they also improve air quality, help reduce flooding and capture carbon emissions, while providing unique natural habitats for much of our animals, birds and insects.
And yet, with 13% woodland cover, the UK is one of the least-wooded countries in the whole of Europe – the rest of which has an average of 42%. This is where you come in. By taking your unwanted cards to your local M&S, you’ll contribute to a scheme that has enriched Britain’s landscape by 32,000 trees since 2012.
Last year a staggering six million cards were collected, resulting in 6,000 trees being planted by the Woodland Trust. This time around they want to beat this target and plant thousands more trees.
The type of trees used in the scheme is important: only the native broadleaved varieties that are native to these isles, such as oak, hazel, beech, elder and wild cherry, are planted by the Woodland Trust.
These trees support protected species such as red squirrels and dormice, providing natural corridors for them to travel through and create woodland canopies with just the right amount of dappled light to support native plants such as bluebells and wild garlic. And with tree disease claiming many of our most treasured varieties, such as oak and ash, it has never been more important to plant more broadleaved trees and help nature fight back through biodiversity.
This Christmas, once the decorations are taken down and the last mince pies have been eaten, take your cards to your local M&S store to be recycled. Look out for the special card collection bins from 2 to 31 January 2016.
