a story

Gift cards have become an increasingly popular item, as more individuals find it attractive to give and receive “the gift of shopping”. According to a 2008 press release issued by the financial services research group TowerGroup, each year millions of consumers venture to retailers to spend their hard earned bucks on these plastic cards, generating $70 billion in revenue in 2007. Despite their desirable status, these pesky plastic cards have hazardous repercussions, inflicting harm upon environment and the health of humans. According to a 2007 article in Plenty Magazine, plastic gift cards account for 75 million pounds of discarded Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) each year. If you weren't aware, PVC is highly toxic, in a 2000 report issued by the EPA, studies found that exposure to PVC puts people at an increased risk for liver damage, reproductive and developmental health issues, and cancer.

So want to give a gift card without wreaking havoc upon Mother Nature? A eco-friendly alternative is to give the gift that will end up in buried in a landfill contaminating water supplies, an emailable eGift card. I prefer GiftZip.com due to its commitment to the evironment. GiftZip.com provides users with free and direct access to hundreds of retailers' egift card pages, promoting greener gift giving and eliminating the plastic in the process. The business, different from similar websites that offer listing for both traditional and eGift cards, does not have banner ads, hidden fees, nor does it have a registration process and is genuinely concerned about protesting the environment, sporting t-shirts that say "GiftZip.com, because plastic sucks" and showing visitors how many people have ditched the plastic thus far. An eco-friendly college, start-up business, making it easier and greener to give gift cards.