As the hobby continues to grow and the number of products balloons, the issues of the environmental impact have become more of a concern. We thought it would be helpful if we provided some resources to help you game more sustainably where you can. On this page you will find articles about the subject, companies where sustainability is a strong concern, and products that you can buy in the knowledge that they are better for the planet. None of these are affiliate links and all have been checked out by the team to the best of our abilities.
Information
FSC – Information on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards. This is one of the leading standards in sustainable products with regards to forest use i.e. wood, paper, and cardboard. Getting an FSC certification on a product is difficult, and you can be assured that it is well earned.
Haba – have a whole piece on their site about sustainability efforts
Kickstarter – The crowdfunding company has announced its intention to change the back end of the site to a blockchain powered version. Blockchain, NFTs, and Cryptocurrency in their current forms are incredibly environmentally damaging, requiring vast amounts of computer power to produce. At the time of writing (30/01/21) KS has not made this change.
Stonemaier Games – This company has posted a couple of times about it’s sustainability efforts:
Products
Below are links to products that have some environmentally friendly credentials.
Canopy – A two player card game with an ecological theme that has gone to great lengths to be as sustainable as possible: wooden components from FSC certified forests, no plastic packaging. This is a link to the KS but it seems reasonably widely available.
NSV Spiele – This company has recently repackaged some of its card and dice games in recycled packaging, and using paper strips to bind the cards together.
Nudge – We’ve reviewed this game previously and it is recyclable and comes in environmentally friendly packaging.
Photosynthesis – Board game from Blue Orange Games made from recycled material.
Postmark Games – a new company that has a focus on print at home games eliminating the need for distribution.
Ultimate Guard– Return to Earth deck boxes are 100% recyclable and made from 93% recycled material.