The holiday season is upon us and I enjoy the many cards and photos that friends and family send. From a virtual perspective, would I enjoy them as much if they were eCards and images? It takes a lot of gas, oil, electricity and pollution to deliver them. According to the US Census, 1.9 Billion Christmas Cards are sent every year. Some of these are recycled, but most are still delivered traditionally, by the US Postal Service “685,000 career employees and 101,000 non-career staff, making it the second-largest employer in the United States (behind Wal-Mart)…The USPS operates the largest fleet of commercial vehicles in the country—some 212,000 vans and trucks.”
Can we say it as well electronically? eCards will supplant paper based cards in the near future. They get better every year; can be customized with photos, music, etc. Most importantly they are environmentally friendly and almost completely green (they still take some electricity to send and the materials in your computer are often made in an environmentally unfriendly way). It will require a paradigm shift in the way we think about holiday cards, however, as with all things, the more cost effective distribution system will ultimately win, and virtual will supplant paper based delivery. The US Post Office delivers another 18 billion pieces of mail and packages during the holiday season, thus eCards would represent a significant 10% reduction in deliveries, though there would still be a long way to go.
This year, we’re sending almost all of our cards electronically. Regardless of how you decided to send or receive cards, we wish everyone a happy holiday season!