Posted by Jeff Walter, Inkjet Systems Marketing

Today, HP announced what has been referred to internally as our “green launch.” The green launch is a group of announcements about what HP is doing to minimize our impact on the environment. With all due respect, HP really launched this initiative in 1957 when our founders, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, instituted a corporate Good Citizenship objective encouraging responsible practices within the communities where the company does business. Bill and Dave loved camping, fishing and other outdoor activities. In fact, many HP sites are located in communities where these activities flourish. I sometime wonder if our founders used the ability to be immersed in nature quickly as a criteria for HP site selection.

HP’s dedication to being environmentally responsible is evidenced by our development of one of the first technology hardware remarketing programs in 1981, and that was followed by a global product recycling program six years later. At HP, recycling started before it was really “cool” to do so. In fact, we’ve recycled more than a billion pounds of computing hardware and printing supplies since then, and we expect to hit the milestone of 2 billion pounds by the end of 2010.

But maybe even bigger evidence that HP isn’t new to the environmental party is the recent announcement from the second Climate Counts Company Scorecard. This organization rates companies on their environmental performance and participation. Among electronics companies, HP was ranked fourth. A statement on Climate Counts’ web site says “Climate Counts has found that Hewlett-Packard has established clear goals to reduce its energy use and that the company has reduced its impact on global warming (i.e., its greenhouse gas emissions or climate footprint) via energy conservation and transportation reduction programs. The company has also worked to foster climate awareness among consumers, employees, and other businesses.”

Today's press release and materials explain why HP is continually getting attention for our environmental programs. But today’s announcement is not about what we've done but more about our future. Every day, we’re developing plans on how we can enhance our business while decreasing our impact on the environment. Although we frequently use recycled content in our inkjet printers, one of our specific goals is to increase the amount of recycled content used three times by 2010. To that end, we announced today the HP Deskjet D2545 printer. This is HP’s first printer with an outer plastic shell made from 100% recycled plastic content. The product also uses ink cartridges made from recycled plastic resins. The printer is ENERGY STAR qualified and is packaged in environmentally-friendly materials.

Today’s announcement is a significant step for HP in that we are making our commitments public. We’re ready to be judged on our effectiveness in this area. We feel HP has the ability to provide practical environmental solutions to our customers, and to practice environmental stewardship that is good for customers, good for business and good for the planet.

Opinions expressed here and in any corresponding comments are the personal opinions of the original authors, not of HP and may not have been reviewed in advance by HP.