This year, instead of sending out Christmas cards to you and other contacts we will be donating what we would have spent on cards and postage to SeeSaw http://www.seesaw.org.uk. SeeSaw are a registered charity based in Oxfordshire, dedicated to providing grief and bereavement support for children, and they are the charity selected by staff for us to work with this year. We hope that this donation of £3,278.60 will make a real difference to many children.

Even in this loony world of self loathing and eco-obsessiveness, this is a new low. Have we forgotten the meaning behind sending Christmas cards? The above email was sent by Nominet (the Internet registry for .uk domain names), but I have received others from work colleagues along the same lines:

In an attempt to stay green this is my festive greeting to you, and I will be giving the money I would have spent on sending you all cards to charity.

WTF?! Are we supposed to print out your email and stick it to the wall instead?

Where will it end? Why not stop calling your friends too and divert the money you would have spent to someone who you will never know and who doesn’t give a damn about you?

If you need to inform the world of your ‘generous’ nature then go ahead and make a charitable donation, but don’t be a tight arse and offset it by not sending Christmas cards to your nearest and dearest. You are not ‘green’, you are are miser!