I don't know how I am just learning that Razer's mascot is Sneki Snek. He is a snake, of course, and he is really cute. I have also just learned that Razer teamed up with Conservation International in 2020 to sell Sneki Snek merch, with part of the proceeds going towards saving trees. New items unlock as goals for the number of trees saved hit certain milestones. They have Sneki Snek pillows, keycaps, and hoodies.
They even made cute animated videos about the project, starring Sneki Snek – obviously – which are narrated like episodes of Planet Earth.
My first reaction (after ahhh, so cute!) was that this was likely greenwashing. Ecofriendly and gaming aren't words that usually go together. However, it turns out that it might be legit. Razer has committed to numerous goals, like using 100% renewable energy in all its offices by 2025 – a goal already met by its offices in Germany and Singapore. Two of its popular gaming mice earned an Ecologo certification by being manufactured using recycled plastics. They also created zVentures, a 50 million dollar fund to support environmental and sustainability startups.
The original goal of saving 100,000 trees was quickly surpassed and increased to one million trees. The total is now over 1.4 million trees saved, with a new goal set at ten million.
Previously: Nike faces class-action lawsuit accusing it of greenwashing
