Joystiq readers are environmentally friendly
Claims that the majority of Joystiq readers are harmful to the planet's health have been disproved, as the results from our do you leave your console on standby? poll proves. Out of the 8,500+ respondents that took part in the poll, 53% make a conscious effort to turn off their consoles once they're finished with another 10% occasionally forgetting to do so. We can only assume that the remaining 36% who leave their consoles on standby all the time are part of the North American SUV drivers for simultaneous use of air conditioning and heating lobby group. The comments thread provided some excellent commentary on the responsibility we have to conserve our energy so we've highlighted some of the most interesting ones after the jump.
Some of our readers pointed out that console manufacturers are failing to even offer an option of turning the console completely off. Metaly left us this comment: "I would always power off my old PS2 completely, but now that I have the slimline model it's always in standby after I'm done using it. There doesn't seem to be any alternative to leaving it that way aside from unplugging it. And that would just be crazy." Manufacturers of electronic goods have a responsibility to make sure that it is as easy as possible for users to conserve energy. If turning off a game console isn't easy for the owner to do (maybe because it requires leaning down to turn it off at the plug, which may not be easily accessible) it leads to the possibility that more people will leave their consoles on. Two recent game consoles (the Xbox 360 and the slim PS2) completely lack off switches. This is unacceptable. Mike Nathan wrote an excellent comment that highlights several possible reasons behind this trend for the absence of a "power off" button. Check it out here.
Our comments also proved that there are still some myths present regarding standby mode, as Jay illustrated: "I suppose the whole thing about booting up electrical devices takes up a lot more power than keeping them running comes into realisation here. I mean, doesn't switching on certain lights (fluorescent) take up 8 hours of normal running energy just to switch them on?" This is in fact untrue. The Energy Saving Trust's survey found that "one-in-seven people questioned thought putting devices on standby was actually more energy-efficient than switching them on and off. The MTP's Matthew Armishaw clears up any confusion: 'That is largely a myth. There may have been some issues with very old electronic components, but it is certainly not the case with today's consumer electronic goods.'"
Jccalhoun let us know about his convenient energy saving solution: "I've got all my stuff attached to two powerstrips and I turn them off at night." Alkaiser can't understand why people don't make an effort to turn off their consoles. As he says, it saves you money as well as the environment! Whitster lays it down for us: "Is it really that much of an effort to pull out the plug?"
To wrap this summary post up, DeeJayKnight gives us the bottom line: "We're all guilty of wasting electricity from time to time, regardless of who you are. This article is just trying to point it out to us so we can start changing it..."
