Along with all of the gift, party and dinner invitations that arrive during the holidays comes the need for thank-you notes. This year, forgo the treacly greeting card sentiments and send a note that screams “Maine.” It will add a personal touch, and be better for the planet, too.
Sabrina Thiemke-Greene, who lives in Limerick, designs cards with hikers, snowshoes and honeybees surrounded by the shape of Maine. Other cards feature fiddleheads in Mason jars, dandelions and herbs. Each card is made of recycled kraft paper silkscreened by hand and decorated with an environmentally friendly ink. They’re packaged in a compostable plastic sleeve.
The card paper comes from a paper-making company that relies on hydropower and windpower, Thiemke-Greene said, “so not only are the cards recycled, they’re using sustainable ways to make the cards.”
Thiemke-Greene started her business, Think Greene, just after graduating from college about eight years ago. She deliberately developed it in a sustainable direction because “My business is a reflection of the way I live my life, and making designs and products that represent my values and being able to share that with the world is what keeps me motivated each day.”
Thiemke-Greene loves to hike and snowshoe, thus the cards featuring those activities. Her next designs, she said, will highlight kayaking and yoga “because those are a big part of my life.”
She uses some of the same designs on tea towels, handkerchiefs and other products.
The cards cost $4 each. A list of businesses that sell them can be found on Thiemke-Greene’s website, thinkgreene.net. They can also be purchased online at the same website.
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