Council urges people to send electronic Christmas cards to cut waste

People in Gloucestershire are being urged to send festive greetings via email - instead of sending the traditional Christmas card.

The county council says it could help cut down on paper waste, after figures show that in the UK we throw away a billion cards every year.

Christmas cards have been sent since the Victorian era - and the trend took off, with adverts reminding people to post their cards on time to arrive for Christmas.

But now, people can send their festive greetings within seconds, with the arrival of e-Christmas cards.

It's a service that is often free to use, and wastes no paper, which is why Gloucestershire Country Council is urging people to adopt the practice.

But some charities rely on Christmas cards to generate funds.

The Cobalt unit in Cheltenham buys and operates sophisticated medical body scanners.

They recycle cards and and sell them, raising over £30,000.

Here's what Christmas shoppers thought of the proposal:

So should we stop sending so many traditional christmas cards?

Those who want to cut waste say there are a billion reasons why we should.