--- title: "Making gift cards greener: Miconex introduces eco-friendly gift cards to 70 plus places in the UK and Ireland | Miconex Partner Portal" description: Gift vouchers or certificates were first used in the early 20th century but became popular in the late 1990s. 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Seen as a notch above giving cash, and a way [Kelly Topping](https://mi-cnx.com/news/author/kelly-topping) Jul 31, 2022 --- Gift vouchers or certificates were first used in the early 20th century but became popular in the late 1990s. Seen as a notch above giving cash, and a way to transfer the power of choice to the recipient, gift cards became even more popular in 2021 with 32.8% of people regularly buying them as presents. An emerging trend in gift buying is sustainability. Research from American Express found that 62% of UK consumers made at least one sustainable choice when purchasing festive gifts in 2021. This trend is especially strong in younger people with 77% of 18-34 year olds buying sustainable products or gifts. And eco credentials matter to gift card recipients too, with 21.2% saying they’d find an eco-friendly gift card more attractive as a present. With all this in mind, Miconex is launching new eco-friendly Town & City Gift Cards for our 70 plus programs in the UK and Ireland. Here are just some of the ways that they’re better for the environment. **1. They’re board not plastic.** Our new Town & City Gift Cards are produced on a strong paper board called Invercote, using FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified material. Invercote Duo is a solid bleach board made by back to back pasting of triple coated Invercote. The strength, toughness and thickness of the board creates a Town & City Gift Card that is durable, without the need for a plastic card. **2. They’re long lasting.** The surface of Invercote Duo can reproduce the most sophisticated printing image whilst a patented coating provides lightfastness. So the image on your Town & City Gift Card won’t fade any time soon. **3. The board is made in a more sustainable way.** Invercote is made by a company called Holmen Iggesund in Sweden’s forests, and is produced with a low carbon footprint. Iggesund run one of the most sustainable paper mills in the world. The wood comes from sustainably managed forests, where trees are allowed to grow for 100 years to reach full maturity. The mill in Iggesund turns renewable wood, clean water and bio energy into Invercote. The water used is taken from a nearby lake system, purified, and reused many times. After use, the water is put into a multi stage cleaning process to ensure it won’t impact on the marine environment when released to the sea. **4. They’re 100% bio-degradable and 100% compostable.** When the magnetic strip on Town & City Gift Cards is removed, the gift cards are 100% biodegradable and 100% compostable, making them a more eco-friendly choice. **5. Our supplier is FSC chain of customer and ISO 14001 certified.** As well as the board used in Town & City Gift Cards being made sustainably, our gift cards are produced by a supplier who is FSC chain of customer certified. This verifies and tracks FSC certified materials through the supply chain, from the forest to the market. FSC is a non-governmental organisation which promotes the responsible and ethical management of the world’s forests. Our supplier is also ISO 14001 environmental certified. ISO 14001 is designed to protect the environment and achieve continual improvement of environmental performance. **6. The inks used are more eco-friendly.** The range of inks used in Town & City Gift Cards are produced using reduced energy and water consumption, and reduced waste. The inks also have high levels of bio-renewable carbon, containing raw materials that can be incorporated into post-consumer recycled materials. These coatings have significant levels of bio-sources and recycled materials. **7. We use recycled paper too.** And it’s not only the gift card production and materials that are more eco-friendly, as Miconex uses recycled paper and envelopes too, printing in black and white to reduce ink consumption where possible. Find[eco-friendly gift cards](https://townandcitygiftcards.com/) for towns and cities across the UK and Ireland.                           [Articles](https://mi-cnx.com/news/tag/articles) ## Similar posts Articles ### [Downtown Gift Cards](https://mi-cnx.com/news/downtown-gift-cards) Love Downtown. Gift Downtown Lock in spend, drive foot traffic and stimulate economic activity with your own chamber gift card program DOWNTOWN GIFT... Admin Oct 17, 2021 Articles ### [New local Gift Card for Downtown Cranford](https://mi-cnx.com/news/new-local-gift-card-for-downtown-cranford-to-support-the-small-business-community) Downtown Cranford has launched its own Gift Card to support the small business community. The Downtown Cranford Gift Card can be loaded with $20 –... Kelly Topping Jan 20, 2022 Case Studies ### [The biggest local gift card in the UK: the York Gift Card](https://mi-cnx.com/news/the-biggest-local-gift-card-in-the-uk-the-york-gift-card) Background to the York Gift Card The York Gift Card launched in 2019 and achieved almost £70,000 in sales in 2021, an increase of 47% on 2020. Over... Kelly Topping Apr 3, 2022 ### Get notified on the latest Miconex News Be the first to know about new case studies and Miconex news. 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