Greenpeace, after taking on such ogres as nuclear arms and whalers, is facing off with the video game industry. Their chief concern is the less-than-environmentally friendly materials that are used in gaming consoles: the environmental organization is looking for a commitment from console producers — Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft currently lead the pack — to green their products.

Greenpeace cracked open several game consoles in their labs and found the following:

• The Microsoft Xbox contains phthalates, beryllium and bromine.
• The Sony Playstation 3 contains phthalates, beryllium and bromine in the highest levels of all three machines.
• The Nintendo Wii contains bromine, but generally got off as the safest of the three consoles.

Now, Greenpeace didn’t release the exact amounts of each dangerous chemical that they found in the machines, and to keep things in perspective, I think it’s fair to point out that they were probably fairly small amounts. But these are pretty nasty chemicals: beryllium dust can cause chronic beryllium disease — a nice way of saying that it, even in relatively small amounts, can destroy a person’s lungs. Phthalates, as Greenpeace’s press release states “are toxic to the reproductive system, interfering with sexual development in some mammals, especially in males.”

The big issue here is the use of hazardous materials like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in the manufacture of the Playstation 3, the Wii, the Xbox and other gaming systems. All three have made commitments to switch to safer materials — Microsoft has set a specific deadline of 2010, Nintendo is going with something along the lines of ‘eventually.’ Greenpeace is advocating for a commitment from smaller manufacturers as well.

Greenpeace also strongly objects to the disposable nature of game consoles:
“Game consoles also contribute towards the fastest growing type of waste – ewaste. Once they’ve reached the end of useful life, game consoles are often dumped and end up in unsafe and dirty recycling yards in developing countries, where toxic contents harm both the environment and the health of workers.”

Greenpeace has put together a wishlist for game console manufacturers — the commitments that the organization would like to see:

• Energy-efficient electronics
• Responsibility for the systems when they are discarded
• Removal of hazardous materials from console designs
• Upgradeable and recyclable, rather than disposable, products

They're inviting consumers to inform the big three console manufacturers of their opinions through their Clash of the Consoles website.

If I had to make a prediction, I would bet that most companies would be more interested in energy-efficient electronics over removing hazardous materials. I think, though, that upgradeable machines may be an avenue of research for your average console designer, though — it would be an easy route to reducing overall manufacturing costs for the companies involved. But until the next generation of gaming consoles come out, there’s no guessing what all might be included in upcoming design.

Photo — Soda O