Join our board member Carol Mertz at the 2026 GDC: Festival of Gaming this year for her talk, “Creating a Culture of Sustainability in Tabletop Games.” The event will take place from March 9-13 in San Francisco, California. Her talk will be on Monday, March 9 at 11:50am PST, Room 3018, West Hall.
Creators in the tabletop industry hold the keys to reducing the carbon footprint of board games. Learn how board games negatively impact the climate crisis and what designers, publishers, and manufacturers can do to reduce their environmental impact. Along with the ways that we can change the culture of sustainability for ourselves and our players. We will discuss both practical and idealist methods to challenge the status quo of tabletop game production and distribution.
Attendees will learn about sustainable production methods and earth-friendlier materials for tabletop games and game merch, as well as ways we as an industry can improve the culture of sustainability around physical games.
The target audience of this session is tabletop game designers, developers, and publishers who are interested in decreasing the carbon footprint of board game production. While some practical experience in tabletop game production will provide added context, no prerequisite knowledge is necessary.