11 December 2007 - Three
of the greatest heroes of the video game world
have come together this December to battle
for a future free of toxic chemicals. The
iconic figures of Nintendo's Mario, Microsoft's
Master Chief and Sony's Kratos are the lead
characters in our new website, 'Clash of the
Consoles', where gamers can urge game console
makers to go green.
In gamespace, everybody wants to save the
world. But back here on planet Earth, games
consoles contain deadly agents of real destruction:
toxic chemicals that shouldn't be there and
may add to the mountain of e-waste when consoles
are thrown away. On 'Clash of the Consoles'
you can check out how your favourite game
heroes stand up against their rivals on toxics,
recycling and energy, and how you can help
battle the boss monsters to green their game:
We've created this site because our investigations
have revealed that Microsoft, Nintendo and
Sony do not have games consoles free of the
worst toxic chemicals. Also, Microsoft and
Nintendo do not take responsibility for their
consoles when they become obsolete.
Game consoles have components common to PCs,
in which levels of hazardous chemicals are
being reduced. But console manufacturers have
so far failed to achieve any progress in cutting
back on the same substances in their products.
"They are lagging way behind the makers
of mobile phones and PCs who have been reducing
the toxic load of their products over the
past year," said Zeina Al Hajj, Greenpeace
International toxics campaigner. "Game
consoles contain many of the same components
as PCs so manufacturers can do a lot more,"
she continued.
This site is just a part of our campaign
for greener electronics. Every quarter we
publish a guide to how the major makers of
PCs, mobile phones, TVs and game consoles
measure up against criteria on toxic chemicals
and recycling. In the past, we've protested
against HP's use of toxic chemicals, helped
push Apple towards a greener future and penalised
companies like Sony, LG, Motorola and Nokia
when their actions have not lived up to their
green words.
Extra cost?
PC makers are already removing toxic chemicals
in some applications without increasing prices
to consumers. Sony, for instance, is boasting
of having saved money by carefully managing
and optimising its takeback programmes. These
measures should not mean consoles would become
any more expensive.
Let's Play
You hold the controller. You - the customers
- are the people these companies listen to.
Visit the site to check how your favourite
game console measures up and urge the company
that made it to move to the next level of
the green challenge.
