So Not Extra (A Tale of Microplastics)

Soul's Notes (TL;DR): It has very much crossed my mind to add embellishments to our cards like our competitors, but all those extras hurt our environment. Our cards are colourful, vibrant, beautiful, but perhaps a bit flat... we like it that way.

Ladies and gents (and everyone in between!), it's time to talk about the competition.

I know there are card options out there with cute frills, rhinestones, gold foil, it's like the Las Vegas strip on paper. Once again, not knocking on their methods, it's fancy and fun. So why don't we do the same thing?

I am definitely a texture person, so it has very much crossed my mind to add a lil' something something to our cards. BUT WAIT, what are those embellishments made of and where do they go once someone is done with their glitzy card?

We all know that plastic takes 100+ years to biodegrade, so imagine those small extras hitting our landfills, waterways, and recycling facilities. Normal plastic objects and microplastics (any plastic product up to 5 mm in size, such as glitter), "...have been found on almost every beach, on the surface of every ocean, in [the] deepest parts of the sea, and in some of the most remote parts of the planet" (Government of Canada, 2021).

Furthermore, the grind of sorting out our plastics from paper products is a cumbersome, but necessary, evil. Not only are the embellishments on greeting cards usually not made from recyclable material, you would literally need to pry them off before throwing the paper part of your card into the blue bin, with the "bling" going into your trash can; otherwise... the whole thing is bound for the landfill.

Lastly, let's not forget that the animals we share our home with can easily ingest and/or suffocate on these tiny bits and pieces.

As such, our cards are colourful, vibrant, beautiful, but perhaps a bit flat. And you know what? We like it that way.

A friendly reminder that all our cards and packaging are made of 100% curbside recyclable or compostable materials, including any adhesives or coatings.

References:

Government of Canada. (2021, March 29). Microplastics. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/environmental-environnement/microplastics-microplastiques/index-eng.html