A new study suggests buying your game at retail is better for the environment than downloading it.

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A study titled " The Carbon Footprint of Games Distribution ," published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology, concluded that the average carbon footprint required to drive to a local store and buy a typically sized PlayStation 3 game is less severe than downloading the same game. It used a 8.8 GB game, but found that the trend continues quite a bit under that mark. Only if a game is 1.3 GB or under is a download the greener method.This is in stark contrast to music distribution according to the study. Thanks likely to its small download size, downloading takes less energy than the carbon footprint of distributing music discs to stores.

Steve Watts is a freelance writer who only plays games with the TV off to reduce his carbon footprint. You can read more of his keen insights by following him on Twitter and IGN