How gaming affects the environment
There is a negative aspect to gaming that isn’t as widely discussed as it should be, and that’s the environmental impact of consoles. In this blog post, we discuss how consoles affect the environment as well as the alternatives available out there.
How does gaming affect the environment?
One of the main ways in which gaming negatively affects the environment is through consoles. For example, in 2019 the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor recorded a staggering 4.7 million tons of e-waste. This is a significant source of waste gathering in landfills and is a figure that desperately needs improving. This is because consoles are typically made from plastic, which as we know takes around 20 to 500 years to decompose. Although this figure does depend on the size of the console and how much sunlight it is exposed to.
However, these statistics don’t cover the full extent of the issue. This is because they don’t account for the greenhouse gases that are produced when the consoles, console accessories, and hard copies of console games are initially manufactured – which only adds to the severity of the issue.
Where we come in
At Virtue Gaming, we come in as an alternative to console gaming. This is because games such as Eco-aire are a casual type of handheld gaming. Rather than needing a TV, a console, a controller, console accessories such as headphones or a microphone, or a hard copy of the game in a plastic box to play, you only need a phone – which you most likely own anyway. Already, this means that a lot of the wasted plastic that is generated by broken or outdated consoles is reduced.
How eco-gaming benefits the environment
Eco-gaming has a series of benefits for the environment. Besides the reduction of plastic which we have already discussed, there is also the benefit of education. Eco-gaming allows for education on deeper issues that are affecting the world. For example, indie eco games and BEYOND BLUE use in-app purchases, from which the proceeds are donated to charitable causes.
For more information, contact our team at Virtue Gaming today.
Image by JESHOOTS-com via Pixabay
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