At least once a week, a beautiful calendar arrives at our home. In almost every case, these are sent by nonprofit organizations, hoping for a donation to cover the cost of their gift and services.
In this digital age, one wonders how many of us actually use wall calendars; having just turned 70, I have not placed one on the wall for at least twenty years. Some have been donated to my grandkids (before they received their I-pads) but most are simply placed in the recycle bin (after flipping through the photos to justify the postage).
We donate to our fair share of charities and non-profit groups, many of which are devoted to medical care or conservation, but I am especially dismayed when I receive wall calendars from conservation organizations, whether I am a member or not. In my mind, they are an unnecessary use of paper and fuel, just the consumption that conservationists so vigorously oppose; perhaps the former is recycled (which requires some energy use) but I doubt the ink, staples and gas are second-hand. Of course, I also resent the fact that those organizations use part of my donation to send out the calendars!
