"Going green" is an ongoing trend in the tech industry, with companies pledging to become carbon neutral by investing in clean energy like solar and constructing more energy-efficient facilities. For MSI, its latest move to become more environmentally friendly is a relatively small change, and it involves paper in its retail boxes. In this case, the company says that it will remove paper materials inside its motherboard boxes to "protect trees."
Depending on the MSI motherboard in question, there are varying amounts of paper attachments inside the product box. For example, the Pro Z690-A comes with a quick installation guide and product registration card. On the other hand, the MEG Z690 Unify-X packaging contains a full user manual, quick installation guide, reward program, shout-out flyer, product catalog and registration card.
"MSI is committed to mitigating the environmental impacts of its business activities through green production and supply chain management," the company said in a statement on its website. "We have invested actively into improving energy consumption, waste reduction and chemical substance control in response to climate change risk."
In the future, MSI asks customers to visit its website and search for any necessary documentation for their motherboard in digital form. Or, for customers that need a little additional help with finding documentation, a QR code will be provided on the product box that will take you directly to the digital documentation specific to your motherboard.
In the end, MSI can say that it promotes "better energy saving" and "carbon reduction" while saving a few pennies per box with the removal of paper manuals. However, the most significant contributor to paper usage – the actual motherboard box itself – won't see any changes for obvious reasons.
Although MSI didn't mention graphics cards in its statement, we could envision the company extending the policy to those products as well. MSI's best graphics cards for gaming come loaded with paper materials, including flyers, quick install guides, and registration pamphlets -- just like its motherboards. So if MSI is really committed to reducing its carbon footprint, it only makes sense to practice what it preaches across its entire product portfolio.
