As part of Blog Action Day, I'd like to remind you that online calling cards aren't just great for your wallet. Sure, you can get the best available rates by shopping around and reading all of the fees before you buy. And yes, you can customize your card to your calling area to get the features and service you need. What else is so cool about buying prepaid calling cards online?
There's no card.
When you buy a plastic calling card at a store, you get the card for your wallet along with the piece of plastic or cardboard that was used to hang it, plus maybe a plastic bag and a receipt. That's three extra pieces of trash that you don't even need in order to make your call!
Suppose you could just buy the card itself. It's just a plastic rectangle, about 2.5 by 3.5 inches, no harm done. It wouldn't be noticed in a landfill. Now think about scale: over our network alone, over 100,000,000 (one hundred million) cards would be purchased each month. If each card weighs just .03 ounces (one gram, about as much as a paper clip), that would put 2,204,622 pounds (1102 tons) of plastic in the landfill each month.The next time you need a prepaid calling card, be sure to shop online. That goes for other purchases, too - see what you can buy in digital form rather than buying the actual object.
Don't forget the classic advice - reduce, reuse, and recycle. If you already have a stash of used calling cards (or gift cards), use them for bookmarks, cut them into custom guitar picks, make your own art or craft from them, or check out these ways to reuse them:
(Note: the links below are to outside sites. CallingCards.com is not responsible for the content of these sites.)
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/plastic_gift_cards.php
http://faerieluna.blogspot.com/2006/09/recycle-those-plastic-gift-or-coffee.html
http://www.funqa.com/environment-ecology/2776-1-environment-3.html
Let me know if you think of any other ways to reuse plastic cards!
No comments:
Post a Comment