Don't Throw Birthday Cards Away, Try Digital Birthday Cards

Everyone has a box or drawer in their house where they keep birthday cards from years past. Some of them we may cherish as they are from a loved one that has passed on or a dear friend we haven’t talked to in years.

But the others… they’re like ghosts of birthdays past. They all contain the same old tired phrases and sentiments (“Hope you have a great birthday!” or “One year older! Wow!” are a couple of examples), and to be honest, they’re cluttering up the house. The box or the drawer is close to bulging.

How can we reduce waste and stop drowning ourselves (and our loved ones to whom we also give cards every year) in paper birthday cards?

What Are Digital Birthday Cards?

Virtual birthday cards are not a newfangled notion. They’ve been around since the advent of the email. There have been many times that I’ve sent or received an e-card, which was the term we used back in the day.

Back then, about a decade or so ago, e-cards showed only simple 2D shapes that sometimes moved, albeit slowly and jerkily. You could personalize it with a special text and the recipient’s name, but you couldn’t insert your own photo, video, or GIF into it.

Much like the cellphone evolved from a thick heavy portable telephone into a slim, touchscreen, the digital birthday card has metamorphosized into something much more than a mere well-wishing message. It has become a mashup of all different forms of media, including text, photo, video, and GIF. In the case of the virtual cards at Bells and Wishes, it’s become like Pinterest in appearance, with none of the ads and all the love expressed in a unique, digital way by each individual loved one.

Why Would I Want To Send Someone A Digital Card For Their Birthday?

Paper cards are not obsolete. If they were, grocery and department stores wouldn’t still dedicate one or two full aisles to them. There’s a lot to be said for writing a birthday message to someone you love or are even just casual friends with, in your own hand. It shows that you put thought, effort, and time into the choosing of the card and the writing of the good wishes.

With all that in mind, why would you want to give a loved one a digital birthday card?

Reason #1: It Doesn’t Create Clutter

Remember that overflowing drawer we alluded to at the beginning of this article? Your loved one can kiss that clutter goodbye when you start sending them digital birthday cards instead.

No more clutter lying around, no more tossing away paper cards with a guilty feeling because they just don’t have room for them anymore. The birthday boy or girl receives the card on their computer, phone, or tablet where it takes up only a speck of web browser space. This leaves them with plenty of “room” (digitally, that is) for all the lovely birthday cards you’re going to send them in the years to come.

Reason #2: It Can Be Saved Forever

Paper cards may wear away or be lost. But a digital card is forever. For example, if you send a digital card through Bells and Wishes, the recipient can save it and look at it for as long as they like if they create an account on our website.

When you give a loved one a birthday card, you give them the gift of precious memories and eternal sentiment. With a digital one, they can look at it over and over as the years go by and remember with fondness each signer and how much they love them. A virtual card will never fade, and neither will the emotions imbued into its sweet messages.

Reason #3: It Can Be Quickly Customized To Match The Recipient’s Personality

Diana is at the grocery store, searching high and low for the perfect birthday card for her mother. But the one that expresses her mother’s strong character and fun personality just isn’t there.

Diana is desperate to make the card a special one. It’s her mother’s 50th birthday, after all! She could make one and customize it herself, but she quickly rules out that possibility. She doesn’t have time to purchase all the paper, glue, glitter, and other craft materials she would need, much less put them all together.

When Diana decided to send a digital birthday card, however, customizing it became fast, easy, and completely mess-free. Each Bells and Wishes card comes with preset themes, backgrounds, and fonts, which help her make it look as unique as her mom.

Reason #4: It Makes Collaboration With Other Signers Easy Breezy

Whenever you try to put a group-signed birthday card together, whether it’s for a friend, a family member, or a coworker, there are always snags along the way.

Olivia is an office administrator at a dentist office. She’s also the resident birthday card keeper. The day before a coworker’s birthday, she sneaks a card for them around the office so that everyone can sign it. It’s always stressful because what if the recipient finds the card too early? The element of surprise will be gone!

With digital cards from Bells and Wishes, Olivia’s frenzy to collaborate with other card signers turns from a nightmare into a dream. All she needs to do is send a link to the card, and from there they can add their own personalized message, image, video, or audio. Collaborators don’t even need to sign up or log in to add a message. It takes just a couple minutes to complete this step, so no one will complain about the process taking too long or being too complicated.

And of course, since the card is digital and accessible through the Bells and Wishes website, collaborators can sign it from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Even if the dentist is on a vacation in Maui, she can still sign a virtual card to celebrate her employee’s special day.

Reason #5: It Encourages The Signers To Express Their Personality

Not all of us are experts at conjuring up a pithy phrase to express our love and appreciation for our card recipient. Some of us show affection through other forms, such as a sweet homemade video or a funny GIF. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to channel these forms in a paper card.

But with a digital card from Bells and Wishes, the sky’s the limit when it comes to showing the recipient how much you care about them. Whether it’s a video, photo, GIF, or text, all the signers’ messages show up on a single page that the recipient can scroll through, in a similar way to Pinterest. The recipient will see immediately how each collaborator expressed their love in their one-of-a-kind way. It makes the card that much more personal and special.

Reason #6: It’s Cheaper Than Buying A Paper Card

Paper cards can cost anywhere from a dollar, to close to $10. And that’s just paper, with no fancy digital accoutrements like you get when you create a digital card.

At Bells and Wishes, we offer three tiers of cards for you to choose depending on your budget, how many people are collaborating with you, and how many recipients there are on your birthday list. The first tier is completely free, and it allows up to 5 separate messages which you can upload a photo or GIF to if you choose, as well as basic themes, backgrounds, and fonts.

Reason #7: It’s Better For The Planet

Did you know that some elements of a paper birthday card can’t be recycled? Glitter, feathers, ribbons, foil – these and other decorations on the covers of cards can’t reincorporate back into paper. Sadly, they usually end up in a landfill.

To cut down on wasting all those lovely paper cards, you can make the simple switch from paper to digital. It’s even easier nowadays, when just about every adult in the United States has access to a computer or another electronic device with an internet connection.

Your contribution won’t make a dent in the wastefulness in the greeting card industry. But it will help keep your conscience clear, as well as take the burden of disposing of the birthday card off the person you’re giving it to.

Digital Birthday Cards Take The Clutter Out Of Celebrations

A loved one or friend’s birthday is a wonderful occasion to send a card. But despite all the heartfelt sentiments expressed within, paper cards are often relegated to clutter and then, inevitably, the trash can.

Digital birthday cards take the clutter out of celebrations. The messages on a virtual card are read, seen, heard, and felt for years to come by the recipient. In that way, their love lives on forever. It doesn’t decay or fade away.