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25 Tips for Environmentally Friendly Tree Hugger Video Gaming
Video games are a pretty environmentally friendly hobby despite the reliance on electricity but it is not like riding an ATV through endangered wetlands. Here are 25 tips to make your gaming habit even more tree hugger hippieish.
1. Plug your game systems on a power strip and turn it off when you are not using it so it does not sap "leaking power".
2. Get a solar powered charger backpack for your PSP or Nintendo DS.
3. Get rechargeable NiMH batteries for your wireless controllers, old handheld games like the NeoGeo Pocket and all-in-one Atari TV Games.
4. Buy a used or refurbished video game system. I got my Gamecube refurbished and it saved me $25 bucks and has worked perfectly.
5. Buy used games. They need a good home too, just check for scratches.
6. Choose a more power friendly LCD TV than a plasma or old fashion tube TV for your games. Also check the power consumption statistics of a new TV when you make your purchasing decisions. Sitting closer to a LCD TV makes it seam a lot bigger than it actually is. It is not the 1950s and you don't have to get a big TV the size of a desk and put it across the room. Saving power saves money.
7. Get a nice warm blanket to play games under rather than turning up the heat or wear a sweater Mr. Rogers / Jimmy Carter style.
8. 
Recycle game boxes and store your disks in a CD folder. You can donate blank CD boxes to Goodwill as long as they are in good condition and a container.
9. Turn off the power strip and the lights when you are done.
10. Replace the light bulbs in your room with more energy efficient florescent bulbs.
11. Get a big bag of chips or snacks and keep it fresh with a clip or plastic storage bins rather than snacking on individually wrapped food items.
12. Buy big bottles of pop or juice rather than aluminum cans or glass bottles.
13. Actually use the save game feature and take a break after a while. Just stay away from cracktackular online RPGs that punish you from taking a break.
14. If you are pretty busy schedule sometime to play games and stick to it. This makes your enjoyment of a single game last longer and you don't feel like your system is just collecting dust.
15. Go through and play your older games that you have never finished instead of buying a new game.
16. Rent a game first that you are unsure of wanting to own.
17.
Go read a book rather than watching TV in your non gaming hours. Save your TV for games and DVDs.
18. Get your game walk-throughs, FAQs and hints online from places like GameFaqs.com. Buying printed game guides are for suckers and they are printed on dead trees. Just don't print out huge FAQ file but use it as a reference on your hard drive. Who actually reads a physically printed video game magazine anymore?
19. Recycle cans get a small recycle bin for the bottles and cans that you do use.
20. Laptop computers consume much less power than a desktop PC. Smaller laptop screens not only save power and use smaller toxic chemicals in the batteries but they can save your back when you lug them around. Laptops are not perfect but they are better.
21. If you own your home look into investing in one of the newer solar power systems.
22. Trade your used games with your friends and loan your games that you are not playing to a trusted friend. Spread the love around.
23. Ride a bike or take a walk to a park for some Nintendo DS or PSP gaming while sitting under a tree.
24. Check to see if your power company has a green renewable power program and if they don't have one ask them why not.
25. Support online download market places for game. Valve's Steam, Xbox Live's Marketplace, Nintendo's WiiConnect24, iPod games in the iTunes Store, Sony's PSOne emulator store for PSP, and Aspyr's Macintosh Gamerhood system are all prefect examples of a future where online distributions systems for games make the entire concept of manufacturing plastic discs and distributing them via trucks seem old fashioned. Online distributed games are never out of stock.
Update: Used games are a form of recycling or more specifically re-using. CDs and DVDs are made from mostly plastic with a little bit of metal and they do not decompose and can't be recycled. Plastic is made from petroleum and the economy of shipping disks around the world on trucks and planes use a hell of a lot of gas. How much gas do you think that Wal-Mart uses to ship their product to their stores? The environmental impact of a products distribution is a factor in the total impact. That is why I think digitally distributed games is the ultimate in green gaming. My dad is an environmental chemist so being bothered by these things is in my blood I guess.
This is just off the top of my head. If you have any suggestions drop them in the comments.
Jake at September 26, 2006 
Games
Comments
Alot of these aren't more enviromentally friendly, such as buying used games...how does that relate to saving the enviroment?
"Who actually reads a physically printed video game magazine anymore?"
This is almost hypocritical of you now, since you review games for The Stranger.
Posted by: ShotgunSteve ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.8bitjoystick.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 26, 2006 6:12 PM
Come on people mostly read The Stranger for other reasons than my occasional published review. It is a pretty diverse publication when it comes to subject matter
I was thinking about the old game magazines like Gamepro, and Next Generation. The internet has completely changes things since we have instantly distributed screen shots, news and video clips from all over the world. Print magazines are limited by available space, distribution range and publishing deadlines. The only reason why I read Game Informer on the can is because the subscription is free with my GameStop discount card.
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf at September 26, 2006 9:53 PM
The only gaming magazine I still read monthly is Nintendo Power. Other than that I get most of my news online.
Mostly NP has a lot of good features about upcoming games and systems that other magazines can't get about Nintendo because...well, it is owned and operated by Nintendo. And they do give some good bonuses with the mag at certain periods too.
Actually with this next gen I hope to see the death of demo discs. Especially considering each of the consoles will have an online distribution system, and a form of internal storage. I also find if I physically have to put at disc in I'm less inclined to try out a demo. It's a big waste IMO. Especially painful that PC mags still have them.
Posted by: Llydis at September 26, 2006 10:59 PM
I still read EGM, while people get their news mostly online now it's still nice to have an actual magazine. As well as alot of people buying them for the Demo discs. I'm buying the latest issue of OPM (I never have bought it before) because it is going to have a Guitar Hero 2 demo on it.
Alot of times game companies strike deals with magazines so the magazine getst he news before it hits the net. Ala Game Informer and the debute of Red Steel for the Wii.
Posted by: ShotgunSteve at September 27, 2006 12:07 AM
After using Xbox Live on the 360 I don’t see much of a future for demo disks. Now what I want is to take an USB 2.0 external hard drive and hook it up to the 360 and be able to buy whole games over the net directly off the HD.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at September 27, 2006 9:24 AM
Reuse, recycle, reduce. Good piece, it's stuff gamers can use to do those. As far as ShotgunSteve's comment, The Stranger is much more than a gaming rag, it's a city weekly with a small gaming article each. Yeah, it's a deadtree publication. I'd argue it's a very well reused rag. I usually toss the copy I pick up back in the pile for someone else to read, as do other people I see.
Posted by: Robert at September 27, 2006 11:34 AM
The Stranger also published 99% of their content each week on their website. http://www.thestranger.com/
When my article is more read than the naughty sex ads then I will be fully hypocritical.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at September 27, 2006 12:32 PM
