Late reply but no one should ever be grading modern common-holo cards.
I want to extend that to double rares and further even but obviously that gets more and more controversial.
It’s not just a junk slab, but an illogical, irrational, idiotic use of plastic.
Time to repost in the unpopular opinions…
If you use the logic that it’s a waste of world resources then what are pokemon cards as a whole?
Calling me idiotic for wanting every card featuring Raichu graded as mint is very mean spirited in a hobby that is just about as wasteful as it comes.
Yeah, please.
Pokemon cards are literally trash, exactly as you say, wasteful as they come.
We buy paper coated in plastic printed with ink packaged in foil packaged in plastic trays packaged in boxes packaged in cardboard pallets shipped around the world. Then buy them open then trash all the excess packaging that was just placed on them to then package them in plastic sleeves and then into card savers and then into a box to get graded where they arrive and are removed from all the plastic and then placed in plastic cases and sealed and then sleeved and then packed in boxes and then shipped back to us and then we remove all the non sealed plastic case packaging and then take pictures and then protect them with plastic bubbles and pack them into boxes and then ship them as part of a sale or trade.
Well, I’m not arguing that Pokemon cards are a good use of resources either. We live in the twilight of the era of excess. Future generations will probably wonder how were we ever so profligate. After all, just because one can, doesn’t mean one should.
People today are entitled to ‘can’ because they think they don’t have to pay for the consequences when the time comes - and that is only partially true now anyway because people die every day from worsening pollution, disasters etc.
Anyway, there is a difference between the sentence “an idiotic use of plastic” and you taking offence and interpreting it as you are being called an idiot.
Good that you know that then.
I thought I was going easy just taking aim at a niche of a niche of a niche of the hobby to start with but people get so sensitive.
I personally don’t buy any packs nor do I grade anything. When I sell or buy, I mostly try to get them dropped off at an LGS. But obviously the amount of plastic that goes into sleeving and the fact that I am enabling others to keep ripping has not sat well with me.
Are there ways to enjoy the hobby without endorsing its excessive waste? That answer is probably irrelevant within our lifetimes anyway since there will be a lot more pressing matters to put it lightly.
Ive seen people in Canada sending cards in cardboard card shields, rather than plastic toploaders. Its a drop in the bucket in terms of what could change with excessive waste in this hobby, but im glad to see collectors and sellers at least having these conversations and trying to be conscious of it.
Obviously grading uses a lot of plastic, but I think in the grand scheme of things it’s not notable. Water bottles, plastic cutlery, take out containers use magnitudes more. If you care about plastic waste, start where it matters. I’ve probably thrown out more plastic myself in laundry and shampoo bottles than every graded card I’ve ever owned. Not to mention those are all single-use and graded cards are generally long-lasting uses. There’s also no realistic non-plastic substitute for graded slabs.
The waste produced by the Pokemon product on store shelves is probably way more significant. I’m sure some degree of it can and is recycled but I imagine a lot isn’t. I get that the mega sized boxes are used to draw in attention from kids but it would be nice to have the option to get product a better way. Maybe in like an aluminum container which is one of the most recycled material on the planet. But ultimately there’s no financial incentive for TPCi to change what they are doing so I doubt they would.
I think alot about this subject myself. I recycle everything I can, unplug outlets when not in use, grow things in gardens, etc.
I hate plastic as much as the next person. I am also mindful of the waste we as collectors produce and know if I ultimately want to not engage in waste, it would meam not engaging in the hobby.
As others have pointed out, reduce when you can but figure things out at the most poignant. Make your votes count, sign petitions, and do some research on what you can do. Right now I think the biggest issue I have is recycling companies not recycling as much as we think.
Actually now that I think about it, are the tins actually made of aluminum?
I am sure that the greenhouse gases emitted by all of the airplanes, vans, cars, and ships used to transport boxes and cards (raw or graded) between buyers, sellers, manufacturers, distributors, graders, vaults, etc. vastly eclipses the environmental impact of grading cards. If you purchase cards from other countries, transporting that single package has made a huge environmental impact. But that’s the consumerism and economic world that we live in.
Pokemon could do a lot to reduce their environmental impact (e.g., Amazon moved from majority plastic to majority cardboard pretty well), but the incentive is not there as @pfm noted.
I am all for reducing my environmental impact, but I also acknowledge that my hobby generally produces a lot of waste and I contribute to that every time I buy/sell cards, open packs, grade cards, etc.
Yeah I agree with this and fortunately for us collectors, that’s a problem of where we source energy from more than something specific to Pokemon collecting itself. Packaging materials is something that can’t be avoided here but at least you have a ton of different options if you wish to minimize your own personal impact.
Modern and vintage have very different footprints. I consider buying vintage as buying second hand, and this is a good thing because we do not use new resource or energy to produce them. The question is how much CO2 does every spent USD produce? For vintage, the ratio is excellent (let’s say compared to buying a new car).
The problem is created by the collecting industry and habits of collectors that constantly ship cards around the globe only to crack and resubmit again. I find it important to highlight as most collectors do not seem to consciously account for this. Maybe we should feel a bit guilty when looking at the pile of cracked slabs…
Modern is not different to any other product though.
I struggle with this question myself a lot. I have seen people throw out used toploaders when they were used once. Of course that is totally fair but I cringe a bit if that happens. I try to recycle when I can, using etb’s as storage is a great option for example. But ultimately I dont see a lot of room for recycling if you want to give your cards the best or even appropiate protection. I like pokemon a lot, so I wont quit it for the environmental damage. But if anyone has great ideas for recycling, I am all ears.
Forgive me while I take a hard left turn, but the waste and environmental damage produced by card collecting pales in comparison to the waste produced by major corporations. Since 1988, 100 corporations have contributed 71% of the world’s emissions. It’s not just greenhouse gases, if we want to stick to plastic waste, 20 companies are responsible for over half of the world’s single-use plastic waste.
The greatest trick these companies have played on the public is responsibilizing us for climate change. Instead of reducing their emissions or stopping fossil fuel production (obligatory note that major petrochemical companies knew about climate change caused by emissions and worked to cover it up), they have tried to convince us that we’re the problem. The focus has been individualized: we need to be reducing our plastic waste, using reusable grocery bags, recycling everything we can, drinking through paper straws, etc.
Yes, one should always strive to minimize environmental impact. Especially in the west, we contribute much more waste per capita than others do. Ideally cards should be produced with less single-use plastic and more easily recyclable materials. But let’s not lose sight of the real problem here.
Im sure with the insane record profits, the pokemon company could ofset some of their environmental waste by planting some trees.
Same goes for psa since they also have record profits last years.
Not enough people know about this and I’m glad it’s being said on a pokemon forum.
Always reminds me of this propaganda. This was in the 70’s mind you. The biggest corporations caught onto this marketing long ago, the same sort of techniques are used not just in this but in all marketing to appeal to your emotions and influence public opinion/perception.
For those who don’t know the guy isn’t even Native. He’s Italian.
Genuine question, what do you think the solution is?
*Disclaimer: I work in the Petrochem Industry.
There’s literally one solution. It’s in the hands of the countries who control the globe. I’m not gonna sit here and say it’s worthless to try to civically pressure companies to make policy change, but it’s ongoing work for 100’s of years from the everyday people to push a foot when they gain a mile.
Unfortunately at the end of the day it is only going to be when serious problems arise that changes will be instituted. It’s not only human nature, but what our economic system fosters; the capacity to go until they can’t anymore. These people who run the show laugh in the face of people trying to urge them to change or alter business models. They’d have to see a profit in it, but that’s the problem. What is needed for not only quality living and culture, but also for the care of our posterity’s survival is antithetical to the current economic systems in which these companies thrive and expand. It’s quite the predicament.
Here are two that come to mind:
Increase energy production from renewable sources (e.g., solar, wind, water, nuclear).
Determine where plastics and fossil fuels are absolutely necessary in the economy and look into viable replacements for where they are not necessary.
