Greeting Cards v. Environmentalism: Where to draw the line?

I was raised in the kind of family where every gift required a handwritten thank-you card. Every birthday, Christmas, or other holiday that included gift-receiving was dutifully followed by a neat stack of handwritten thank-you cards, complete with such jewels as:

"I just know I will get a lot of use out of this wool sweater, (even though I live here in Florida and have never known cold weather)."

and

"What a thoughtful gift - I will think of you every time I use it!" (this could be applied to any gift, no matter how soon it got lost in the back of a desk drawer)

So now I have 30-some years of experience and an ingrained sense of mannerly society that requires thank-you cards. The problem is that over the last several years I have been trying to reduce my impact on the environment, and thank-you cards really use up a lot of paper that, even if recycled, would be better left unpurchased and unreplaced. So what is one to do?

The environmentalist in me says, that's what technology is for! Switch to e-cards, facebook messages, or emails! But that is quickly followed by the thought of the many, many etiquette/advice columnists (not to mention my mother) who have advised over the years that a handwritten thank-you note is an absolute, non-negotiable requirement of the gift-giving process. It goes: 1)Holiday occurs - 2)Gifts are exchanged - 3)Handwritten thank-yous are in order immediately following.

I mean, I didn't even know until I got married that there were people who didn't write thank you notes. I thought it was something everyone in the world did. But it turned out my husband didn't think they were necessary, especially for occasions like Christmas, where you open gifts in front of the givers and thank them there in person. He even went so far as to say they were a mis-step in that situation, since it makes it seem too formal for close family. Since he has always been a member of his family and knows the rules better than I do, I no longer send thank-you notes for gifts given in-person by his family and for which the giver has already been thanked.

But gifts that are not given in-person, and gifts that come from my family, still seem to require a hand-written response. Something about taking the trouble to get out the pen, write your thoughts, and address and send the envelope makes it seem more worthy of the gift. I mean, it's easy to send an e-card or an email. I even recently read a Carolyn Hax column (or maybe it was Ask Amy) that complained that e-cards are more trouble than they are worth for those with slow-loading computers. And I am quite certain Miss Manners will require handwritten thank- you notes for millenia to come. And many people listen to and agree with her. So what am I to do?

I have considered sending emails to people likely to send gifts, asking them what they think. For example, "Would you be offended if I were to send e-cards instead of handwritten cards from now on?" But that seems like it might encourage false responses, because people don't want to say, "No, I require a hand-written card!" even if they might feel that way.

So that's my dilemma...what is one to do? Do I honor tradition, social civility, or a commitment to the environment? What's more important? And what am I to do about Christmas cards, and birthday cards, and such? One family can go through a whole forest in Christmas cards alone! Still, it seems too easy to send Christmas emails.

What do you think?