More people today are thinking about how their actions, and even their purchases, affect the environment. “Green computing” is about getting the most out of technology, minimizing environmental impact and maximizing cost savings. In my view, the green process starts long before a Dell product is sold to a customer.
More consumers and businesses are thinking about the environmental aspects of computing technology before they purchase. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Green Electronics Council launched a new tool in July designed to help purchasers evaluate, compare, and select computer products based on their environmental attributes.
From Dell’s perspective, here’s how we’re lessening the impact our products have on the environment before you ever open a single box.
It all starts with product design. Through our Design for the Environment initiative, Dell is adapting the design of our products to use fewer resources and minimize or eliminate the use of environmentally-sensitive materials while also making continuous improvements to our product energy efficiencies. Our chemical-use policy outlines our precautionary approach of selecting substances to use or eliminate from product design
We continue to collaborate with third-party stakeholders in the process of design improvements like Energy Star and the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative.
We’ve streamlined our packaging. When we began to look at ways we could improve, it was clear that packaging was a good place to start. In this process, we’ve been able to reduce the volume of materials used in packing hardware, without sacrificing protection during the shipping process.
Last year alone, Dell saved nearly 22 million kilograms of packaging material through reduction and elimination of corrugated cardboard, plastic foam and wood materials. We’ll continue to minimize the volume of materials we use.
Your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated—if there’s a specific sustainability topic you’d like to hear more about, let me know.