A new report from the environmental group Greenpeace reveals that Sony is the "greenest" of all three console manufacturers.

The group's toxics campaigner Iza Kruszewska particularly praised Sony for its take-back recycling program for all their products (the eCycling centers).

Kruszewska goes on to talk about Microsoft, saying that they are "just getting on board with the environment.":

They’ve just hired a sustainability team, and we are seeing movement from Microsoft with its 360 console, but the company had started from a very low base.

[...] But really, they have it so easy because they only make two core hardware products – the 360 and the Zune – they should really be way ahead. But they are coming on board for sure.

Nintendo comes in at last place in the green race, not particularly because they're the least "green", but because of their lack of communication with Greenpeace. Kruszewska explains that they barely disclose any of their practices. Still, Greenpeace provides reasons to question Nintendo's practices:

Nintendo does have a target to cut absolute emissions by 2 percent each year, but they themselves said they didn’t meet that, and I understand that their emissions actually increased by 6 percent when their sales began to shoot up in 2007.

They also note that Nintendo has no environmental division, and that they have no take-back policies anywhere in the world except where legislation demands it. When asked about this, Nintendo replied, according to Kruszewska:

They said that their products don’t create waste because… people hang onto them! It’s a very inadequate response, and I’m surprised a serious company like Nintendo would even respond that way.

---

Related Articles:

• Nintendo responds to Greenpeace allegations of 'playing dirty'
• Save energy, save money: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii energy consumption put to the test
• Greenpeace: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii still 'playing dirty', using harmful materials
• Nintendo responds to latest Greenpeace Greener Electronics Ranking