Report: 20% of All U.S. Landfill Space Taken Up By Art Cards
Las Vegas, NV - A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency states that roughly a fifth of all the refuse contained in government-run landfills is art cards from various Magic: the Gathering products
Debra Lacey, spokesperson for the EPA, discussed ongoing efforts to curb the large mass of art cards at Apex Regional Landfill, the country's biggest government-run trash dump.
"It's an issue many people did not expect when art cards were announced," explained Lacey while ankle-deep in a pile of cardboard covered in art depicting Phyrexians. "We never anticipated that a card game company could make a product this knowingly wasteful, that maybe 5% of their client base would care about, and that would wind up consuming so much of our available space.
"Since we became aware of the issue, we have taken steps to curb it with a new public campaign. We are asking people to hold onto their cards and try to make something useful with them. To that end, we've begun releasing TikTok and Reel PSA videos that show projects consumers can make using art cards."
Popular videos have shown how to make bookmarks, tabletop decorations by dipping the cards in resin, and a simple shepherd's pie with art card mince.
"We just want to get public awareness out about the versatility of these pieces people usually throw away," said Lacey.
The EPA also met with Wizards of the Coast to figure out other means of keeping art card waste low.
"We are working in conjunction with the government to alleviate this issue," explained Trent Crosby, a spokesperson for WOTC. "We have provided feedback on some of the tips in the videos, and are happy with how the EPA is handling the situation. However, we do not agree with advice that people should be allowed to use them as proxies; if you're going to play the game with fake cards we give you, they had better be 30th Anniversary cards and nothing else. Also we will not stop printing art cards."
As of press time, an expansion to Apex Regional was announced to contain all of the waste product Innistrad: Double Feature created.
