I’ve noticed a big increase in the e-Christmas card this year, with companies shunning the traditional card in favour of electronic alternatives.

There are obvious advantages in terms of cost and ease, but there is a good eco message there too.  If we all went electronic, we’d save a good number of trees this Christmas.

Increasingly this is an attractive prospect for businesses with many becoming more aware of their carbon footprint and looking at ways to reduce their impact on the environment.  As a price on carbon seems highly likely this year, it’s something all businesses should be assessing.

For SMEs particularly, printing contributes a healthy percentage to the overall carbon footprint and is a good starting point when looking to reduce it.

This is where the principles of the e-Christmas card can be applied.  What processes and workflows can be automated and streamlined to take paper out of the equation? How much of the printing ends up in the bin?  Can we achieve the same outcome with an electronic alternative to paper?

A lot of Upstream’s customers have reduced their carbon emissions by up to 32% by introducing solutions to cut down on waste and unnecessary printing. Call it eco-printing if you will.

So saving a tree isn’t just for Christmas, it can be for life.  And that has a much bigger impact on the environment.