We have an eco-bulletin for you: The holiday season is a major paper waster. Between wrapping presents and sending holiday cards and party invitations, paper is used at an alarming rate this time of year.

According to The Greeting Card Association, more than 2 billion boxed and individual Christmas cards were sold in the U.S. last year. That is a whole lot of cards! Of all greeting cards, the most popular seasonal cards are Christmas and holiday cards, which account for more than 60% of all seasonal card sales, followed by Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day and Graduation cards.

All this paper use is bad news for the environment -- but there is good news! The popularity of cards printed on recycled paper and electronic cards (e-cards and evites) is on the rise. Worldwide, an estimated 500 million e-cards are sent each year.

Let's get on board with these e-trends. So how can we be kinder to the environment during the holidays?

The greenest option for holiday cards is obviously to go the e-card route, because no trees are harmed in the making of these cards, producing zero waste. Paper cards, even if they are 100% recycled-content and/or from FSC paper, still generate CO2 emissions associated not only with the making of the paper, and the sending of the product to you, but also with you mailing the cards. Creative Citizen estimates that you could save five pounds of waste, 1,000 pounds of emissions and 1,000 kilowatt hours if you forgo sending 50 cards or invites in a year. That's a HUGE amount of help for the planet!

There are several great options for e-cards: 123Greetings, American Greetings , Blue Mountain and Hallmark are all great. A quick Internet search will turn up many more options, some of which are free!

So, yes, free e-cards that are environmentally friendly are a great option. But if you still like the more personal and tangible feel of paper cards, we also have options for you in that department. You can buy recycled cards from Biome Living, the Green Field Paper Company, Pleasantrees and many more. We also highly recommend Etsy.com - where you can find hundreds of handmade holiday cards from the artists themselves. Some of these companies even sell grow-a-note recycled cards, which are cards embedded with wildflower seeds so the cards' recipients and plant the card directly in the ground and grow flowers!

Our research concludes that the holidays are getting greener every year! What are you doing to make your holiday more eco-friendly?

via TreeHugger