Removable inserts make Greentings designs reusable – and trackable
Cards that love travelling everywhere but landfill is the ethos behind Greentings’ reusable greeting card designs – and there’s even a tracker to follow its journey!
Greentings’ co-founder Kerry Linacre is a self-confessed card nut but “sick of throwing them away after one use” so came up with the idea of including a trio of removable inserts which allow each design can be used at least three times.
“On receiving a Greentings card, each customer simply needs to replace the removable insert and re-send the card to a new recipient together with all spare inserts and envelopes,” Kerry told PG Buzz.
“Greentings maintains the personal touch of a traditional card but we’ve added removable inserts, meaning that the love can continue to be sent, forever.
“So many greeting cards are thrown away, however, there’s a certain magic to be found in the thud of post on the doormat and deciphering the writing on the envelope. We launched with the purpose of creating a happier, greener and more connected world. Slow down, put pen to paper and show loved ones they care, the old-fashioned way – with a nice modern twist.
“What makes our cards really special and appealing to the younger tech-savvy folk is that every card has a unique serial number printed inside which customers can input into their account on our website to see where in the world their card ends up!
“And on the website the customer can also save a 3D digital version of the card so they have a memory to cherish long after the card has been sent on.”
Based in Sheffield, solicitor Kerry founded the business with her husband David and award-winning tattoo artist brother Richard S Smith, who is one of the four artists providing the designs for the cards, which are manufactured in the city by Loxleys Print, using recycled post-consumer waste board and paper and plant-based inks, and packaged with recyclable materials and biodegradable twine.
For customers who want to keep these little works of art, Greentings sells double-sided glass frames made by a fair trade manufacturer in India – and it’s partnered with Tree-Nation to plant one tree for each card sold, and two for each frame to offset emissions, while its website is classified as net zero.
Alongside Rich, who specialises in traditional-style tattoos and has a keen interest in digital children’s illustration, the artists are Harmeet Sembi, whose speciality is drawing using a mixture of traditional and modern digital techniques to produce highly impactful multimedia illustrations; Leeds-based Megan Dobbyn, who creates a lot of her work centred around natural habitats and themes with a rooted interest in folklore and storytelling, along with magic and imagination; and Emma Harding, whose work is heavily influenced by nature and buildings, and she enjoys working in mixed media and lino print, and experimenting with typography.
Kerry added: “I absolutely love greeting cards but was sick of throwing them away after one use and realised that a lot of cards aren’t made using recycled paper so have a higher environmental impact to produce. Also, a lot of cards include elements that can’t be recycled such as ribbons and crystals.”
“To try to tackle this, or hoarding them in boxes for years, our reusable card concept is aimed at millennials and Gen Zs who love a traditional card but are environmentally conscious.”
The newbie publisher will be debuting the collection at PG Live on stand 745. To check out Greentings and the other 200 exhibitors at the UK’s only dedicated greeting card trade show, which takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, 6-7 June, at London’s Business Design Centre, you can register to attend here.
Top: Follow your Greentings reusable card’s journey to different recipients
