Nintendo Goes Green

In honor of this week's launch of Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol, Nintendo is giving away tree seedlings to concerned kids. Reinforcing the ecological themes of the game, in which the protagonist cleans up the environment and defeats Smoglings, Nintendo is offering up to 500 of the seedlings to children who register their game at the Chibi-Robo website between now and November 9, 2007. The winners will be randomly selected from all the entries on November 15, America Recycles Day.

George Harrison, Nintendo of America's Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications, said, "From hybrid cars to energy-conserving light bulbs, everyone is going green. Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol represents one of the first environmentally themed video game adventures."

Not content to let a game and its attending promotion do the talking, Nintendo is also taking steps toward a greener environment. For example, Nintendo:

• Recycles the paper it uses company-wide, limits the use of colored paper (since it's not easily recycled) and purchases recycled paper towels, report covers, message pads and writing pads.
• Recycles more than 70 percent of the waste generated at its headquarters and promotes the recycling of aluminum cans and glass in its corporate cafeterias. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the United States as a whole recycles about 32 percent of its waste.
• Requires manufacturers not use any banned substances (such as lead, mercury, etc.) in components, nor use them in the manufacturing process for any components used in its products.