When worlds collide, magic happens and in this case, you get Fewer Cards.
Two distant strangers had a goal to make a difference in their communities, and now it’s happening with patented technology, according to the Fewer Cards website.
Ryan L. Jones, who was campaigning for the D.C. Office of Attorney General, and William F. Carroll II met at the intersection of 14th and U Streets NW in Washington, D.C. and the rest was history.
As the founder of the smart business card company, sustainability has always been at the forefront for Carroll, a mission that aligns with Jones’ work in politics.
“I set out on this campaign not only to make the District better, but the Nation and world — or Earth,” Jones shared with AfroTech. “We have issues of environmental injustice, like trash and vehicle pollution being higher in some areas than others. People are choosing profits and gain over people every day. If we can cut back on business cards and other paper with fewer cards, then we are taking a step with this campaign — in the right direction — to reduce environmental injustice in the Nation’s Capital.”
Jones continued: “Getting a touchless card meant I could hold myself accountable for being environmentally conscious, instead of printing out thousands of cards.”
Fewer Cards
After realizing how wasteful it was to see business cards left behind during networking events, Carroll knew that the world needed a change.
“I go to a lot of networking events and I would sometimes see my business cards left behind on a table. I thought it was wasteful and I never made the connection with the people I gave my business cards to,” Carroll shared. ”The idea of Fewer Cards came from the fact that our environment is becoming more destabilized because of overconsumption. When people use traditional business cards, people generally lose them, leave them behind on a table or throw them away. That is a huge amount of waste and it is not sustainable.”
With this in mind, Carroll utilized technology to find a better way to connect than traditional business cards. The solution also alleviates stress thanks to its ability to work instantly with smartphones.
“With Fewer Cards, people can simply share contact information by scanning the QR code on the card or tapping the card to NFC [Near Field Communication] enabled smartphones instead of handing out traditional business cards,” Carroll said.
Changing Lives
“I hope that people will use Fewer Cards when they network and build their connections in a sustainable and streamlined way,” Carroll expressed to AfroTech. “Also, because people are using the product Fewer Cards my hope is that people will change their behaviors from overconsumption to being more sustainable.”
What was just a concept has turned into a product that is useful for the world. And, not only is Fewer Cards promoting sustainability, but it’s also helping people build connections in a more streamlined, meaningful way that will hopefully last a lifetime.
Click here for more on Fewer Cards.
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Editorial Note: This editorial has been updated since initially published.
