Hmm. Well, firstly, I shy away from cards that actually say Merry Christmas (although I probably send a few when I run out and use the kids'). But we have a large family and also uni friends who we don't see that often, and usually include a newsy letter along with the card (or at least a few meaningful words). So I don't think that is all that wasteful cos it is the main correspondence of the year in a lot of cases. I did go through the list and thin out people we no longer hardly know. But I do see your point...it does seem rather a lot when added up.