At the end of the Christmas period, you might find that there is a lot of cards dotted about the house which are either stuffed in draws or disposed of.

Now, one Helston cafe has started an initiative to put those cards to good use.

Helston Crafty Cafe is offering to take cards so they can be upcycled to be used next Christmas for various Christmas crafts.

Madeleine Thurley owns the cafe, she told Nub News:

"My nan used to keep all of the last years Christmas cards to reuse them for Christmas decorations the next year, she was definitely of the make-do-and-mend era that we have lost over the last few generations - although I think that it is coming back to some extent with the current climate concerns.

"I think there are lots of eco-aware companies springing up all the time these days - TerraCycle for instance, recycle plastic that most councils can not deal with in this country, and I am sure there are many more I am not aware of."

"Big companies are also very sensibly getting on the green bandwagon, both Sainsburys and M&S have had a card and wrapping paper recycling schemes in-store after Christmas in previous years, and M&S actually banned glitter Christmas cards this year, so did not sell them at all. Which is brilliant, as they are completely non-recyclable because of the plastic."

The picture side of the card needs to be torn off and posted through the cafe letterbox, with the writing side of the card going in card/paper recycling.

The scheme has received backing on Facebook with many people saying they will be dropping in their Christmas cards.

Madeleine added:

"There is this great little movement called #glittercardamnesty where they trying to save glittery Christmas cards from going straight to landfill. But as it is just one wonderful woman in Scotland receiving them it is a much better idea for people to be setting up these opportunities in their local neighbourhoods, and that is what we are hoping to do at Helston Crafty Cafe.

"It fits with our ethos, creates brilliant discussions like this in our community, and saves everyone time or money - what's not to love?

"We all need to be really thinking about our waste, and where it goes, it is easy to get this idea that because you recycle you are being 'green' but in reality, our recycling system leaves a lot to be desired in this country and so much of our waste even at this point does not get made into anything else. So even just using something twice before recycling it is a step in the right direction."

To see more news and events from Helston Crafty Cafe, click the red button below.