Do we need decks wrapped in plastic?

melaniejade31

Hello Friends!

Most tarot readers I meet have an enhanced awareness of energy, seasons, other animals, and their environment in general. Because of this awareness and feeling of unity with my environment, I really care about keeping it beautiful and taking care of all creatures and beings on the earth, as I'm sure most of you do as well. I went to buy a tarot deck the other day and saw that all the decks in the store were wrapped in plastic. I knew that the plastic on the deck would be thrown away as soon as I got home but would remain forever in the environment taking up space in a landfill. It made the beautiful tarot decks much less appealing to me once I considered the true cost of my purchase. I guess the plastic is to prevent people from touching the cards or removing any before they are purchased, but I feel like a paper sticker across the seam would suffice. I would even rather they be in a case rather than have them wrapped in plastic. What are your thoughts on this? Is the plastic wrapping important to you? Would you buy a deck sealed with a sticker or not sealed at all? If we don't really need the plastic wrapping and would buy the decks anyway, maybe the publishers can just leave them off.

I appreciate your input on this!

Melanie Jade
 

LibraX

melaniejade31 said:
Hello Friends!

Most tarot readers I meet have an enhanced awareness of energy, seasons, other animals, and their environment in general. Because of this awareness and feeling of unity with my environment, I really care about keeping it beautiful and taking care of all creatures and beings on the earth, as I'm sure most of you do as well. I went to buy a tarot deck the other day and saw that all the decks in the store were wrapped in plastic. I knew that the plastic on the deck would be thrown away as soon as I got home but would remain forever in the environment taking up space in a landfill. It made the beautiful tarot decks much less appealing to me once I considered the true cost of my purchase. I guess the plastic is to prevent people from touching the cards or removing any before they are purchased, but I feel like a paper sticker across the seam would suffice. I would even rather they be in a case rather than have them wrapped in plastic. What are your thoughts on this? Is the plastic wrapping important to you? Would you buy a deck sealed with a sticker or not sealed at all? If we don't really need the plastic wrapping and would buy the decks anyway, maybe the publishers can just leave them off.

I appreciate your input on this!

Melanie Jade
Click to expand...

Hello!

I completely agree with you. I'm not majorly passionate on the subject, but the only Tarot decks I've bought are from shops that don't wrap them. One was on a market stall, and was open for you to flick through the cards which doesn't bother me... I like to see what it is I'm buying. The other was in a shop that was open too, though it was behind the counter and you have to ask to see.
 

gregory

I suspect it is more about getting them TO the stores - if the odd boxes slid open and released their cards to get bent etc. I recently actually BOUGHT a deck where the plastic hadn't been quite tight enough; the deck had shifted in the box and the cards within the loose plastic - and the back card in the deck was badly bent where it had forced itself against the rest of the deck. Just a thought.... (I entirely agree about the environment. Maybe paper bands around in both directions would do it ?)
 

melaniejade31

gregory said:
I suspect it is more about getting them TO the stores - if the odd boxes slid open and released their cards to get bent etc. I recently actually BOUGHT a deck where the plastic hadn't been quite tight enough; the deck had shifted in the box and the cards within the loose plastic - and the back card in the deck was badly bent where it had forced itself against the rest of the deck. Just a thought.... (I entirely agree about the environment. Maybe paper bands around in both directions would do it ?)
Click to expand...

I guess it depends how they are packaged. The last few decks I bought were stuffed tightly in the box - there was no room for shifting. Maybe if the deck is packaged with a larger book this happens?
 

FaireMaiden

I like the plastic wrapper. It keeps the deck tidy, as gregory said. I give tarot as gifts and don't like it when cards are loose, they get wrecked that way. As far as a paper sticker, well, I'd much rather keep our forests intact, and keep recycling the petroleum gunk. One of these days, at least in America, if 'they' ever get their puritan heads out of their a**es, we could start wrapping everything in hemp. I like that solution best.
 

melaniejade31

Hemp is an interesting idea. Do you mean hemp paper, hemp fabric, or string?The plastic wrappers cannot be recycled. Plus, recycling plastic is a toxic process and takes a lot of energy. Stickers could be made from recycled paper though.
 

MagsStardustBlack

When my Legacy Special Edition came it was wrapped in plain brown paper with a tiny bit of tape on the ends like a little parcel, i thought that was a really nice way of being environmentally friendly and keeping the deck tidy and together.
 

AJ

We could carry it further and say we should only buy/own one deck. Think of all the energy spent producing 100's, nay 1000's of decks...all that paper, all that ink, all that cellophane, all that petro getting them to the consumer's hands.

Your thought isn't frivolous, but perhaps missing the forest for the trees
 

MagsStardustBlack

AJ said:
We could carry it further and say we should only buy/own one deck. Think of all the energy spent producing 100's, nay 1000's of decks...all that paper, all that ink, all that cellophane, all that petro getting them to the consumer's hands.

Your thought isn't frivolous, but perhaps missing the forest for the trees
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You could carry it further, it would be never ending. But i think having tarot decks is a less evil use for cutting down our lovely tree's. Now on the other hand, all those trashy magazines and news papers (the B**L S**T ones) i could easily see the back of.

I think little cardboard boxes, to fit the deck snuggly, would suffice, and could be recycled to. xxMags
 

melaniejade31

AJ said:
We could carry it further and say we should only buy/own one deck. Think of all the energy spent producing 100's, nay 1000's of decks...all that paper, all that ink, all that cellophane, all that petro getting them to the consumer's hands.

Your thought isn't frivolous, but perhaps missing the forest for the trees
Click to expand...

Thanks for your comment, AJ. The difference is that tarot cards are used for years. The plastic wrapper, though it lasts for years, is taken off and trashed immediately. You want things you'll use for a long time, like tarot cards, to last. Things that are only going to be used for a short amount of time and then thrown away should be made of material that is meant to only last a short amount of time, unlike plastic, which doesn't biodegrade.
 
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