Travelers Company

Paper products account for 33% of all materials in the municipal waste stream and Americans are only recycling about 55% of that paper. Do not contribute to this paper nightmare just because you’re on holiday. And by contribute I mean sending postcards.

Postcards you see in airports and in popular travel destinations tend to be made from virgin paper not recycled paper. Thus sending a bunch of postcards to your pals back home is just not all that green. We don’t send postcards anyhow just because we think someone we know is dying for a postcard with a picture of an Island on it.

We send postcards when we travel so that we can say, “Hey! Miss you… having a ball… and wish you were here!” The words not the card matter, so why not take along some ethically made postcards instead of buying non-green postcards during your travels?

Here’s a gallery of some cool places to get tree-free or recycled postcards or cards for your travels…

Night Owl Paper Goods – I LOVE them. They make postcards (among other goodies) with sustainable wood that’s writable. A little heavier than a tree-free paper postcard, but wicked cool, and can be used as an art object.

The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company – paper made from elephant dung.

Smock – makes paper cards from bamboo.

Paper Milk – printed with soy ink on recycled paper and soooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute you might faint. Awesome slick vintage feel too – I have some.

Message in a bottle postcards – just one of the eco-friendly card options at Etsy. I think this one is great for travel though.

Care2 e-cards – don’t forget about Care2 e-cards which are more eco-friendly than any paper (tree-free or not). If you’re traveling with your laptop, send e-cards instead of postcards, and bonus; for every eCard sent, Care2 makes a donation to an environmental nonprofit to save a square foot of rainforest.