What is the most eco friendly miniature?

[jetengine]

Watching a documentary about landfills and their digging stuff up from the 90s that are still entirely intact.

So that got me thinking. Whats the most eco friendly form of miniature in our hobby ?

[Emir of Askaristan]

Probably a paper one since it would be completely biodegradable and recyclable. They have been popular long before the Paper Army books of Peter Dennis, back to the 1800's.

Wooden figures figures are around - I forget the name of chap who makes the Napoleonic flats. They too would be fairly green.

Im guessing the design and manufacturing process for both of those would be less energy intensive than plastic, metal and resin and although two of those could possibly be recycled they're all likely to involve some nasty chemicals, rubber or synthetic moulds, paints and more packaging, heavier to post and travel with so require more energy use to play with.

Mdf buildings....probably quite nasty!

Maybe we should carbon offset 

[Elbows]

If we're not genuinely talking about being concerned about plastic from miniatures (which, even large collections, pales in comparison to the amount of plastic bottles, packaging, trash bags we all use yearly)...I'd imagine that yes, paper would be.

I can see a market for laser-cut MDF standees as well, particularly for larger regimental games.

[has.been]

The Invisible man figures?
The French royal family had the Dauphin's collection cast in silver.
They were very quickly 'recycled' by the revolutionaries.
I think it is our duty to leave wargames figures that will last & last,
it will really confuse future archaeologists.

[fred]

The one that has already been made. So the metal figures we all have from the 80s and 90s are very environmentally friendly as they have already been made, so no more resources will be consumed in their production.

Surely the problem with paper ones is that they don’t last, so that they don’t have a long useful life. It is the life time cost of thing that really matters. If item A is more resource intensive to consume, but lasts many times longer than item B that while taking 50% less resource to make only lasts for 1/10 of the time. There is also disposal costs to consider.

Too much discussion around eco is mutated by manufacturers who want you to buy their new thing. It is generally much better to keep using the thing you have.

[Andrew May]

Watching a documentary about landfills and their digging stuff up from the 90s that are still entirely intact.

So that got me thinking. Whats the most eco friendly form of miniature in our hobby ?

I think about this a fair bit as an environmental activist and a miniature manufacturer. The question is; what do you mean by “eco friendly”? Landfills themselves aren’t actually a huge problem, finding intact items in them after decades show that they are doing their job, the fact that they exist is a byproduct of consumerism and the lack of planning regarding waste mitigation, management etc.

The two most pressing environmental concerns today are greenhouse gas emissions and ecosystem collapse. Without having full traceability for every aspect of what has gone into your miniature it is impossible to assess its impact. I’d say that yes, already existing Miniatures are the most eco friendly that you can buy, second would possibly be 3D printed figures “highly dependent” on many confounding factors! 

This of course assumes that voluntary consumer choices can make a huge difference to the environment while the fossil fuel industry continues to emit gigatons of CO2 into our atmosphere. I believe we are supposed to steer clear of political discussions so I will leave it at that!

[FierceKitty]

Anything made with plastic or lead. These harmful substances are rendered harmless and neutral in a stable form when turned into soldiers. Come on, folks, you won't be throwing your armies into the river, even if they always lose!

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I think that discussing the eco friendly merits of one material or another is missing the point.

The real issue is that anything that you use once and throw away is very bad and anything that you keep and use repeatedly for a long time is actually quite good. By this logic, plastic or metal wargames figures are quite good but plastic bags, plastic cups and coffee stirrers are very bad.

[tuco74]

I've given this some thought recently too, mainly because my bits box is in my sight line when I sit at my painting desk.

I'd like to see manufacturers offer some sort of recycling facility for unwanted sprues (if that's even possible). I'd happily post back the plastic I don't need for it to be reused even if there were no 'reward' on offer.

[Elbows]

There was/is a company that does just that.  I don't believe they offer you anything, but there was a company recycling plastic sprues - don't recall which.

[Andrew May]

There was/is a company that does just that.  I don't believe they offer you anything, but there was a company recycling plastic sprues - don't recall which.

It was Wargames Factory under their horrendous former management. Any local recycling facility should be able to handle your sprues for you, they are generally made of HIPS (high impact polystyrene) in case they need to know.

[Codsticker]

All my useless metal bits (including old minis) are given to friend that makes his own castings and I throw my sprues in the recycling.

[Lost Egg]

I put my sprues and packaging in the recycling too.

Like a lot of players I off load minis etc to eBay periodically as well. I tend to prefer buying new unclipped plastic minis but still manage to get some off eBay rather than just buying new.

I don't have the time or inclination for big collections so despite being in the hobby since '88 I have easily less than 100 minis; my current project is a Space Marine 'army' of 5 guys and an Ork 'army' of 16 guys

[tuco74]

Just contacted my council to see if I can put HIPS in the recycling bin.

[von der Tann]

I think it is our duty to leave wargames figures that will last & last,
it will really confuse future archaeologists.

 

Brilliant and devious thinking - I like that.