It should come as no surprise to anyone that I love Magic The Gathering. Not just playing but also collecting the ever growing number of cards and cracking of new packs. But a piece of me does wonder at the environmental impact of playing a game that is fundamentally structured around new cards coming out regularly. Throw in sometimes excessive packaging, the not-recyclable pack wrappers, and the cornucopia of sleeves, mats, deck boxes, dice and everything else and it all starts to add up. Magic is far from the worst offender out there but I believe that

What prompted this post, you ask? I was at one of our local game stores and saw a product that I had not seen before. Next to my much-loved Ultimate Guard Boulder deck boxes were a new version called Return to Earth. Aside from being opaque rather than translucent, the only difference I could see is that these Boulders are made of 97% renewable resources and come in FSC certified grass paper packaging.

I loved the concept. I get one of my favourite deck boxes in a recyclable, friendlier to Mother Earth format. All for about CA$2 more compared to the plastic versions. Sounds like a win-win scenario.

Ultimate Guard is not alone in looking at more environment friendly solutions. There are promising signs that Wizards of the Coast is looking at ways to reduce its footprint. For example, the Strixhaven Commander 2021 decks can be purchased in a reduced packaging format. It’s a small step but it is a step in the right direction. After all, few of us keep the packaging around once we’ve torn it open to get to the cards themselves. So, reducing it as much as possible and making the rest recyclable makes sense.

As long as we want to play this game with physical cards, there will be a cost. But I look forward to seeing what else WOTC and other companies can do to minimize this impact. Small changes like reduced packaging are a good start but I hope that we see bolder steps, much as Ultimate Guard is doing with its Return to Earth line. How about recyclable sleeves or mats made without any plastics?

How would you like to see WOTC and accessory companies as well as other TCGs improve the environmental impact of their products? Let us know in the comments.