Dell has become the first major computer manufacturer to commit to making its worldwide operations carbon neutral by the end of 2008, extending its recently announced efforts to curb the environmental impact of its operations.
Dell has expanded its Plant a Tree for Me program with the new “Plant a Forest for Me” effort, through which Dell and a group of other companies are encouraging businesses around the globe to join it to share best practices and facilitate the planting of millions of trees in managed reforestation projects.
Joining Dell in the Plant a Forest project so far: ABN AMRO, AMD, Ask.com, Salesforce.com and WellPoint. Each company has committed to offset part of their carbon output by purchasing trees. Dell has partnered with the non-profit organisations The Conservation Fund and Carbonfund.org to get tree planting underway.
Dell says it will be pursuing an aggressive strategy of energy efficiency such as instigating new PC power-down policies at Dell facilities to curb power use, maximizing the purchase of renewable power and offsetting any remaining impact to meet its carbon-neutral commitment. Here’s the press release. You can learn more about Dell’s efforts to go green at Dell Earth.
Dell’s focus on energy efficiency within its own operations is not only good for the environment, it also is good economics - it will save the company money, which should translate into higher profits - or Dell could pass the savings on to consumers, making it more competitive in the marketplace. Call it good eco-nomics.
I own two Dells - a desktop and a laptop - and while neither has been trouble-free, Dell has provided reasonably good customer service. When it comes time to replace either computer, Dell’s eco-nomics likely will keep me from defecting to another computer maker.
One Comment
Hi Bill -I work on environment issues at Dell - in fact worked on the carbon neutral announcement - this was great to see it highlighted here.
And was thrilled to hear our eco-efforts are part of your customer experience with us - if you have any more trouble with the products you already own don’t hesitate to let me know.