Too sentimental to throw away those holiday cards? Don’t. Recycle them instead.

The ISU Recycling Committee is collecting and recycling old greeting cards to benefit abused children in the state of Nevada.

Abandoned and abused kids at St. Jude’s Ranch in Boulder City, Nev., attach new backs to the fronts of old greeting cards. Boxes of the assorted cards are then sold on the St. Jude’s Web site at http://stjudesranch.org/Content/bc.asp. Proceeds from the card sales benefit the children and St. Jude’s, which provides a safe environment for the children.

Gloria Erickson, campus recycling coordinator for the ISU Recycling Committee and adviser of the Student Environmental Council, said recycling greeting cards helps reduce waste paper and helps the children in Boulder City.

“The greeting card program is a good way to help keep garbage out of the waste stream, and it’s a good program to help abused kids,” she said. “What do you do with all your old cards? You hate to throw them away, but something’s got to go.”

Robert Dietz, junior in environmental science, said it is logical to reuse cards whenever possible.

“Millions of cards are produced every year to be looked at for a period of seconds, then thrown away,” he said.

Dietz, president of the Student Environmental Council, said his organization is “providing the manpower for the project.”

Members of the SEC are separating, sorting and preparing the cards for shipment, he said.

Iowa State has participated in the St. Jude greeting card program since 1997, said Erickson, program assistant for Facilities Planning and Management.

Erickson said Warren Madden, vice president for Business and Finance, volunteered to cover the cost to ship the collected cards to St. Jude’s. About 1,000 cards have been collected this year.

Erickson said only the fronts of the greeting cards are needed. The cards should contain no personal messages, she said. She said cards for any occasion are being accepted through Friday. Cards received after that date will be held for next year’s fund-raiser, she said.

Cards can be sent to:

Greeting Card Recycling

Project, attn: Gloria Erickson

Facilities Planning and Management

108 General Services Building