PADI and technology (what’s the deal with e-cards?)

[Lorenzoid]

Like many of us these days, I feel plastic waste is a problem for the planet. But with few exceptions, I prefer to leave my phone somewhere safe and dry when I go diving.

 

[Scuba Scott]

As I understand it, PADI sends you the card when you complete a cert. You cannot opt out. My partner did her open water a few days ago, asked her instructor if she could have an e-card and the response was that PADI doesn’t provide any options except to receive the plastic card in the mail as part of the paperwork the shop submits after you finish your cert.

If I was her instructor I would have told her, "PADI provides plastic cards for every certification they issue because their research has shown that is what most people want. Recently there has been a trend toward ecards but most people don't understand how they work or are unsure if they would prefer to use them. You get an ecard free for 30 days with your certification and and if you like it and decide to buy it within that 30 days you will get a discount on it. Would you like me to help you download the app and show you how it works?"
"If you really like the ecard and wish you had the option of getting that instead of the plastic card you could email PADI and tell them how much you enjoyed your course (and your instructor) but wish there was an option to receive an ecard instead of a plastic card."

 

[Kharon]

If we estimate that a card is about 5g of plastic, thats around 4.5T of plastic every year. Might not seem like a lot, but we all see how much plastic makes it into the oceans.

Just how many c-cards do you propose make it into the ocean - ever?

 

[James79]

Sorry, but not everyone has or wants a smartphone. And saying that a smartphone is more environmentally friendly than a physical card exhibits a complete inability to grasp reality.

Regardless of the plastic vs. E-card argument, the OP does not exhibit "a complete inability to grasp reality." I do not see them proposing some one one buy a smart phone just for e-cards... Therefore their argument is that a smartphone they already own is is more environmentally friendly than the phone plus a plastic card.
Respectfully
James

 

[W W Meixner]

No hard feelings, I think your position is a pretty valid stance to take. I’m not advocating for killing physical cards entirely.

What frustrates me is that (I assume) a significant portion of the ~900,000 certs that PADI issues every year are for hobby divers like myself. Ive never once needed my card as every shop I’ve ever dived with (a dozen or so across 4 continents) has insisted they just look up me up in a computer system. NAUI and SSI are both digital first, with physical cards available at a small cost (I think SSI is $5) which reinforces that it works pretty well for the most common cases.

If we estimate that a card is about 5g of plastic, thats around 4.5T of plastic every year. Might not seem like a lot, but we all see how much plastic makes it into the oceans.

JB...

I go back far enough to remember that ''plastic'' was the magic solution to saving the worlds forests because we were using far too much paper for what we now wrap in plastic...we fixed one problem and created another...now we're on the long curve back to revisiting the first problem...

One plastic card per lifetime...that's re-used over and over again...not bad...

If you want to launch a campaign...launch one for the plastic that our bacon comes wrapped in...cold-cut plastic...bread bag plastic...along with every other consumer ''one use'' plastic that ends up in the garbage every day...and every time we return from the grocery store after putting our groceries away...lest we forget...plastic single use water bottles...now there's a campaign worth mounting...

You want to see waste plastic...walk along the shore line in Angola...solve their problem...and the world problem is well on the way to healing...

W.M...

 

[Paul M]

When you pass a PADI course they send you a card and they give you 30 days of free access to the e-card.
Take a screen shot of the e-card, save it, and you will have it forever, no charge.

 

[doctormike]

Our dive club requires proof of certification, and we accept photos of the plastic card. Not sure how PADI sells a single eCard, since (as mentioned upthread), anyone with the ability to use an eCard has the ability to take a photo of their card. Are there any operators that accept and eCard but not a pic?

Requiring dive shop personnel to be able to access the databases of all of the agencies while they are trying to check people in for a dive is not a great idea.

Finally, single use plastic is one of my biggest concerns, and I am working hard on many levels to minimize its use. But certification cards are an insignificant source. It is almost impossible to go through a day in the developed world without consuming that much plastic in everything from soap wrappers to plasticized paper receipts, even if you really care.

 

[KDAD]

I do try to minimize my use of paper and plastics - except when traveling and diving. My phone battery died, the internet is down, which is quite real in remote places, the shops computer is down. My plastic card works everytime, all the time.

Same for air travel. I always get a paper ticket even though I have at least one boarding pass on my phone. No fumbling, no worries about dead battery, etc.

 

[doctormike]

Yeah. I'm a HUGE fan of digital dive logs, but this is one place where atoms are better than bits.

 

[Scared Silly]

Instead of creating a petition why not just write PADI a letter and ask for the option - physical card or eCard.