Keeping a small inventory of greeting cards at home is a great way to be prepared ahead of time for holidays and birthdays.
If you check your local Dollar Tree dumpster, you might just score some for free.
Even though it's a massive waste for companies to throw away perfectly good greeting cards, one Reddit user was able to salvage quite a few from their local store.
What happened?
In the r/DumpsterDiving subreddit, the shopper posted a photo of a huge haul of greeting cards scattered on their living room floor, all of which came from a Dollar Tree dumpster.
"Dollar Tree haul… thousands of greeting cards with envelopes in perfect condition! Every occasion!" the original poster wrote.
The lucky dumpster diver later commented that the cards were originally sold by Hallmark, highlighting their quality.
Commenters were happy for the OP but also noted the incredible amount of waste on Dollar Tree's part.
"So weird why not just keep these in stock until they sell?" one person said. "It's not seasonal, it's amazing how wasteful these places are."
"It's so senseless!!" another shared.
Why is retail waste concerning?
It's a little-known fact that greeting cards have a pretty large environmental impact, as Fast Company reported.
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Heck yes 👍 In the United States alone, 1.6 billion greeting cards are sent annually, which generates carbon pollution equivalent to powering more than 22,000 homes. Pulp and paper manufacturing is also resource-intensive, requiring tons of water, trees, and energy.
However, even if consumers don't get a chance to buy the cards and retailers discard them for whatever reason, that still means valuable resources from the production and transportation processes went to waste.
That also means customers will likely have to pay more for future greeting cards as the company raises prices to offset its losses.
Is Dollar Tree doing anything about this?
Dollar Tree does not mention any policies regarding greeting card waste, as far as The Cool Down could find; however, its 2024 Sustainability Report does disclose several notable goals.
It aims to reduce planet-warming gas pollution by 50% by 2032, compared to 2023 as the baseline, and ensure that nearly 70% of its suppliers are on board with these targets by 2029.
It also mentions waste reduction and recycling targets, though it's not clear if this includes greeting cards.
Another Dollar Tree customer reported that they wanted to buy Christmas cards just before the holiday, but the cashier told her they had to be tossed because of corporate policies.
Other shoppers mentioned that it could be because the third-party vendor asked the store to pull the cards due to them being discontinued; apparently, this is a common practice at Dollar Tree.
What else is being done to reduce retail waste?
There's little Dollar Tree can do about the greeting cards if they're owned by a third-party seller, but many commenters shared they've had good luck finding tons of cards in store dumpsters near the holidays, so it's worth checking out.
You can also check into sustainable greeting cards made of recycled materials, and some companies will even plant a tree for every card you order.
Supporting eco-friendly companies is one of the best ways to help your wallet and the planet, especially around the holidays when retail waste is a bigger issue.
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