Thus far this Christmas season I have received just one hated e-card. Am hoping that number remains in single figures. It was, however, a concern to see some recent Mintel research citing a general decline in Christmas card sending (in 2006 84% of Brits sent cards, but this fell to 73% last year) - the cost of the cards and the postage seems to be the main issue.

While listening to a radio report on the topic I was amused by the tradition at one household where cards of different themes were grouped in certain areas of the home: ducks and wildfowl around the Aga, trees and landscapes on the sideboard, santa and chums in the hall, etc. What a nice idea. First, though, I need to add 'Aga' to the Christmas list.

The better news in the Mintel report was that sales of everyday greetings cards have actually increased, and it expects the market for printed cards to be resilient against competition from virtual alternatives: "A 'real' card is regarded as more special by consumers." Quite.

Anyhow, this talk of e-cards reminds me that I must impart news of another small victory in the war against e-tosh. The other weekend I spotted a Duracell advertisement feature in the Guardian, a pseudo advice piece involving 12 tips for a stress-free Christmas. You won't be surprised to learn that one of the tips involved stocking up on essentials "especially batteries".

Tip number three was this: "Catch the post. Make an early Christmas card list and consider switching to environmentally friendly e-cards."

The red mist descended, dear reader, and I could have strangled that bunny of theirs. The irony of this statement coming from a battery maker did not escape me, either. According to WRAP, 600 million household batteries end up in landfill every year, and, following the phased implementation of the EU Battery Directive in 2008, it was only in February this year that retailers selling a certain amount of the product were required to provide battery recycling facilities.

After a few deep breaths I noticed that Duracell is on Twitter, so I thought rather than shouting at someone I'll try resolving this little issue via tweet.

The exchange went like this:

@PrintWeek tweet to @DuracellUK: "You describe e-cards as 'environmentally friendly' in your Xmas ad. This is misleading and incorrect, please stop it."

[Duracell responds, after a bit of to- and fro-ing to pinpoint the piece I was referring to]

@DuracellUK "Apologies, it wasn't our intention to mislead. It was a one off advertorial and the content won't be appearing anywhere else. Thank you! Julie"

Good. The bunny has received a reprieve. Rest assured I shall be keeping an eye on them to make sure this is the case. Constant vigilance is required by all of us with an interest in quashing this sort of misinformation. We do have the power.