Environment

• Reconnect Launches in Virginia and Washington D.C. area

  Thu. Oct. 09, 2008
  by Bryant Hilton, Corp. Responsibility Team

  Later today, my colleagues from Dell, Goodwill and the Commonwealth of Virginia will launch the latest expansion of the Reconnect program at a Richmond area event.  This new expansion will cover all of Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metro area.  Consumers in those areas can bring any brand of used computer in any condition to one of 134 Goodwill centers across the region for free, convenient and responsible recycling.  We’re expecting to collect more than 2.5 million pounds of used computer equipment annually from Virginia and the D.C. area alone.

  With this launch, Reconnect offers 567 locations for computer recycling in markets across the U.S.  We’ll continue to expand our efforts, both Goodwill and Dell share a long term vision of making this program available nationwide.  For Dell it’s part of our commitment to lead the industry in providing free and convenient computer recycling.  And, the program is helping support Goodwill’s important job training and creation efforts.

  I’m also happy to report that Virginia Delegate Ken Plum will be at the launch event today.  Del. Plum was the sponsor of Virginia’s Computer Recovery and Recycling Act, which was enacted earlier this year.  The e-cycling law requires computer manufacturers to provide free computer recycling to Virginia consumers, allows those manufacturers to be innovative in how they build recycling options and does not create additional cost or bureaucracy for the Virginia government.  Dell was a supporter of this legislation. Similar legislation became effective in Texas last month.

  We’ll be reporting soon on the launch of additional Reconnect programs. In the meantime, consumers outside of areas were Reconnect is available can always take advantage of Dell’s free and convenient recycling programs.
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• Regeneration Road Trip: Oracle OpenWorld

  Mon. Sep. 29, 2008
  by Todd Dwyer, Community Liaison - Environment

  Last week, I had the opportunity to stop by a Green Room Session at Oracle Openworld with Tod Arbogast, Dell's Director of Sustainable Business. Just before coming out to OpenWorld, we found out that we were a winner of Oracle's prestigious "Empowering the Green Enterprise" award for progress against our goal of becoming the "greenest" technology company on the planet.  Dell's achievements over the past year and a half been well documented on the pages of this blog, but a quick summary includes our energy-efficient products, our industry-leading recycling program, "Plant a Tree for Me" and "Plant a Forest for Me," and the recent news that we are the first in our industry to achieve carbon neutrality.

  I caught up with Oracle CIO Mark Sunday after the Green room session and asked them a few questions for this post.

  
  
  Rebecca Thorburn from Dell's server and storage product team discusses our efforts and her thoughts on the future of green IT.

  San Francisco has been a blast.  Huge letters placed on a mountainside overlooking the city anoint San Francisco "The City of Industry."  The industry I've seen here has ranged from concerned and engaged innovators applying the technology that made this city famous to average citizens helping to clean up our planet for a greener future.  New ways of living and thinking are being born here, and there is definitely a sense that something truly special is going on.  We still have plenty of videos to upload from our time here.  Grist's Sarah van Schagen has been busy at work (that previous link will take you to her latest blog post updates) talking to the people of this city that have devoted countless hours to improving our planet and leading us to a future we can be proud to pass on to the generations that follow us.

  Stay tuned.  While you're at it, check out our Qik page for the streaming videos I've been sending throughout the trip. There all also recent updates over at ReGeneration.org and there will be more here as well. On to Nevada!
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• ReGeneration Roadtrip ‘08

  Mon. Sep. 22, 2008
  by Todd Dwyer, Community Liaison - Environment

  When we launched ReGeneration.org earlier this year, we promised to foster a global dialogue on the need for a greener future….dialogue that will lead to action and results. More than 200,000 people have joined the movement to date and our work is only getting started.

  Today we’re teaming up with our friends at Grist.org on a two-week, cross country trip that will shine a light on the thinkers, innovators and leaders driving us toward a greener future. We’re starting in San Francisco and wrapping up in New York City with plenty of stops along the way.  I will be a digital nomad, posting daily to ReGeneration.org, Facebook, Twitter, and Qik, among others, bringing you videos, blog posts, live streaming shows and, of course, tons of pictures.  Grist’s Sarah van Schagen will be joining me on the trip, so there will also be plenty to see and do on the pages of Grist.org once we’re on the road.

  As we travel, we will be counting on the community to weigh in on the people, places and ideas we encounter along the way.  What questions aren’t we asking that we should be?  What are your major environmental concerns, and more importantly, what are you doing to address them?  We will be showing glimpses and hints of what our green future might entail, but we’d like to hear your thoughts and feedback on the ideas we’ll be showcasing and why they matter.  We'll also be giving away two bamboo Studio Hybrids to members of the ReGeneration community, so be sure to go to ReGeneration.org often for details on how you can win one.

  We’re looking forward to having you with us on the journey.  Let’s hit the road!
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• Dell Recognized as Leader in Carbon Disclosure

  Mon. Sep. 22, 2008
  by Sean Donahue, Environmental Communications

  Earlier this year, I blogged about the importance of publicly-available programs and resources that help companies measure and reduce their CO2 output. Put simply, the more transparent we are about our baseline and progress, the more we can compare and contrast and learn from one another.

  Earlier today, the Carbon Disclosure Project, a not-for-profit organization representing 385 investors with more than $57 trillion in assets under management, released its sixth annual report analyzing the progress of more than 2,300 of the world’s largest corporations. Dell is included in the CDP’s Leadership Index, a listing of the top 34 companies (or 11 percent of the organization’s Global 500 list) in non-carbon intensive sectors. We are recognized in the Top 5 in the Technology, Media and Telecoms category, with a score of 91 for leadership in disclosure. You can download the full report at CDP’s Web site.

  Climate change and CO2 transparency are key tenets of our commitment to become the ‘greenest’ technology company on the planet. In August, we met our carbon-neutral goal more than five months ahead of schedule through a combination of operational efficiencies, greater investment in green power and responsible offsets to cover remaining impacts. We’re saving more than $3M and avoiding nearly 20,000 CO2 emissions through operational improvements and a global power management initiative.

  We’re also focused on driving extraordinary cost and energy savings for customers through innovative products and services. In the end, we can have our greatest impact by helping our customers achieve their own environmental goals.

  What do you think companies should do to address climate change? Join the conversation here or at ReGeneration.org.
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• Dell Takes Green Agenda to the United Nations

  Fri. Sep. 19, 2008
  by Todd Dwyer, Community Liaison - Environment

  For more than 40 years, the United Nations (UN) has been home to historic debate and exchange of ideas about key challenges facing our planet.  Yesterday we had the honor of joining a distinguished UN panel of experts and analysts to discuss the role companies must play in charting a green and sustainable future.

  “If you rewind to the 1950s, we had only 3 billion people on the planet,” said Tod Arbogast, director of Sustainable Business at Dell. “Today we’re approaching 7 billion and by 2050 we could have 9 billion. We must take action now to protect and preserve our world’s natural resources.”

  Arbogast discussed Dell’s progress in fulfilling its commitment to become the ‘greenest’ technology company on the planet. “We are driving new efficiencies across our entire business,” said Arbogast.

  Goldman Sachs’ Michael Moran touched on the importance the investor community is placing on for the need for companies to consider long-term environmental uncertainties.

  “If you believe this, we want to see you preparing for this,” Moran said.

  And don’t forget about your employees. 

  “According to a recent survey, 92 percent of prospective employees said they want to work for a green company,” said Andrew Winston, founder of Winston Eco-Strategies and author of “Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage.”

  Conservation International’s Glenn Prickett weighed in on the importance of helping developing countries preserve and restore vital ecosystems.

  “Twenty percent of the world’s CO2 is caused by the destruction of rainforest. That’s pretty compelling,” said Prickett.

  Fortune Small Business’ Brian Dumaine moderated the hour and a half discussion. Dumaine is author of “The Plot to Save the Planet.”

  What role should businesses play in restoring and maintaining the health of our planet?  We’d like to hear your thoughts and ideas on innovative strategies move us all closer to a greener future. Feel free to share them here or at www.regeneration.org.
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• Focusing on Producer Responsibility

  Thu. Sep. 18, 2008
  by Mike Watson, Sr. Mgr., Global Recovery Srvcs.

  Yesterday I had the chance to speak at the E-Scrap conference held this year in Phoenix.  This is one of the leading events held annually that focuses on the issues of electronics recycling.  Dell is always eager to engage in forums like E-Scrap that bring together the manufacturing, recycling, non-profit and government influencers of recycling programs and policies.

  My comments yesterday were largely on both our commitment to responsible recycling and how we manage our programs and on what we’ve learned in the nearly four years since we’ve launched Reconnect, our alliance with Goodwill.    Some of the thoughts I shared were about how effective non-profit and corporate partnerships can be when all objectives are well understood by both parties.  For example, a key metric of success of the Reconnect program for my colleagues at Goodwill is how many jobs they create while one of Dell’s most important metrics is how many computers we collect.

  I also spent some time discussing the importance of our rules that prohibit the export of waste and steps we take to enforce that requirement. There continues to be a good deal of attention in the press to this issue and it’s good that we are raising awareness on this important topic.  It will take the cooperation of industry and government to successfully create both consumer recycling options and protection of the environment and human health.
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• Computer Recycling Is Now the Law In Texas

  Fri. Sep. 05, 2008
  by Mike Watson, Sr. Mgr., Global Recovery Srvcs.

  The Computer Equipment Recycling Program became effective in the State of Texas on September 1st. This bi-partisan law, spearheaded by Austin Democratic Senator Kirk Watson and Houston Republican Representative Dennis Bonnen, unanimously passed by the Texas legislature last year and implemented by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, is a progressive e-cycling law that will create additional computer recycling options for consumers.

  In short, the new law requires any company selling a computer in the state must offer a free consumer recycling program.  It’s a win on all fronts – Texas consumers will have more free recycling options available to them, more used electronics will be kept out of the state’s landfills and this was done without building additional state government programs – which would in turn cost Texas taxpayers. 

  Dell recognized the principle of producer responsibility more than two years ago, the same principle that the Texas ecycling legislation now codifies.  We’re proud to be offering consumers across the globe free recycling for used computers and proud to continue doing our part in our home state to protect our environment.

  Since the legislation has passed, an additional four states have implemented similar laws.  We look forward to working with more states in the coming year as they consider electronics recycling legislation.
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• The Importance of Energy Efficiency

  Tue. Aug. 26, 2008
  by Todd Dwyer, Community Liaison - Environment

  In the IT industry, much has been said about the importance of energy efficiency and power management in reducing your operating costs and carbon footprints.  Dell has been working hard to deliver the most efficient technologies and develop strong industry partnerships to help our company and industry put its best foot forward. We’ve also teamed up with organizations such as 1E to help save money with software that allows IT professionals to manage their systems' power remotely.   While we agree that power management can do a lot to increase the efficiency of your computer and reduce operating costs for energy and cooling, we think that it is only one part of the big energy-efficiency picture (check out ReGeneration.org for an interview with 1E’s CEO Sumir Karayi).

  While power management can do a lot to reduce operating costs, design is equally important.  At Dell, energy-efficiency begins at the component level, from chip sets and power supplies to memory and the chassis - each plays a role in making the computer run cooler and more efficiently.  To give just one example, our Studio Hybrid is 70 percent more energy-efficient than a standard desktop.

  When you bring energy efficient technologies and smart power management together, you've got a your machine running at top efficiency.  We've covered a few of these practices here, but want to get as many on the table as possible.  What are you doing to help improve the energy efficiency of your computer equipment and data centers?  Let us know in the comments section of this post, or let me know via Twitter (I'm ToddatDell).  It's thanks to input from our customers that we are well on our way to becoming the greenest technology company on the planet.  We've already received hundreds of great ideas on IdeaStorm, many of which have been implemented, and many more are currently being reviewed.  Our work is only getting started, so let's keep the dialogue going.
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• Studio Hybrid Gets 'Gold' for Being Green

  Fri. Aug. 22, 2008
  by Todd Dwyer, Community Liaison - Environment

  Hot on the heels of the recent announcement that our Latitude E6400 and E6500 laptops and Precision M2400 and M4400 Workstations received EPEAT Gold status, we just got word that our Studio Hybrid has achieved the same distinction.  This makes the Studio Hybrid the first and only consumer desktop to meet the Gold standard, beating Apple's Mac Mini and all of HP's consumer desktop offerings.

  EPEAT (or the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) makes it easy to navigate environmentally-responsible systems through a set of publicly-available criteria (e.g.- recycled content, elimination of environmentally sensitive materials, corporate environmental policies, and Energy Star 4.0 standard specifications). Dell was first in the industry to achieve EPEAT Gold for a laptop in 2007. As a result of the great customer feedback and hard work of a number of our teams, we currently have more Gold listed laptops than any other provider.

  A few key points on Studio Hybrid: It’s about 80 percent smaller than standard desktops and uses up to 70 percent less power. It also meets Energy Star 4.0 with an 87 percent efficient power supply, contains about 75 percent less printed documentation by weight when compared to typical tower desktops and its packaging is made from 95 percent recyclable materials. When you’re ready to send it back to us for free recycling (or recycling your existing computer), you can do so using a system-recycling kit that comes with the system.

  While we are honored with this news, we won't be resting on our laurels. There is no finish line in this race and our work to provide greener options to our customers is only getting started. We encourage everyone to join with us in coming up with new ideas around energy efficiency and environmentally-responsible options. Power management is an important part of operating a system as efficiently as possible, but it is no substitute for the need to drive more energy-efficient technology. And at the end of the day, it’s not only about making green easier for our customers, but helping them drive cost savings while achieving their own environmental goals. Stay tuned to Direct2Dell and ReGeneration.org for more exciting news in the weeks and months ahead.  Recognition like this comes thanks to our customers' continued participation, so keep those great green ideas coming!
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• Green on the Go

  Fri. Aug. 15, 2008
  by Todd Dwyer, Community Liaison - Environment

  

  With the launch of 10 new systems – the lightest, most powerful and most energy efficient in our company’s history – we wanted to highlight the Latitude E6400 and E6500 laptops and Precision M2400 and M4400 Workstations as the latest to achieve EPEAT Gold status (the E4200 and E4300 will be listed as EPEAT Gold in the coming weeks). The team has also achieved gold status for the T3400, T5400 and T7400, previously listed as silver.
  
  EPEAT (or the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) helps customers in the public and private sectors compare laptops, desktops and monitors based on a set criteria of environmental attributes (recycled content, elimination of environmentally sensitive materials, corporate environmental policies, and ENERGY STAR standard specifications, among others). Dell was the first to achieve EPEAT Gold for a laptop in 2007 and currently lists 76 systems as Silver or Gold. The success of the tool itself is a reflection of the importance customers are placing on consistent and transparent environmental standards and yardsticks. EPEAT Gold means that the products meet all 23 required criteria plus at least 75 percent of the 28 optional criteria.

  With our latest products, we are enabling “green-on-the-go” computing with a few firsts. The newly launched Latitude E4200 is our first ultra-portable laptop to contain halogen-free laminates, chassis plastics and fan housings. The packaging is 99 percent recyclable by weight with 25 percent post-consumer recycled cardboard. We’ve also made a point to incorporate LED backlit displays on several new models.

  Additionally, most of our Precision Workstations are designed to meet or exceed Energy Star 4.0. These Precision Workstations are extremely powerful machines, proving that you needn't sacrifice performance for energy efficiency. 

  Fifty percent of our laptop models and sixty three percent of our desktop models now meet or exceed Energy Star requirements, avoiding CO2 emissions and driving cost savings for our customers.   

  Thanks for helping us shape our environmental efforts. We recognize how important it is to be able to navigate green technology and will continue to support EPEAT and other yardsticks to help simplify the process. As always, please share your thoughts and ideas. You can leave a comment here or visit IdeaStorm or ReGeneration.org. Together, let’s continue to make a world of difference!
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