New Packaging from HP to Cause Big Drop in Emissions

Source: GreenBiz.com

PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 13, 2007 -- HP has announced that its redesigned print cartridge packaging for North America will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 37 million pounds in 2007 -- the equivalent of taking 3,600 cars off the road for one year.

The emissions savings are the result of smaller, lighter packages that both reduce the total carbon footprint of each cartridge and the truck and freighter transportation traffic required to ship them. Newer packaging also contains more recyclable and recycled content.

"What I see here is smart design," said Greg Norris, Ph.D., environmental life cycle assessment instructor at Harvard University and creator of the Earthster project, an open source software platform designed to make opportunities for sustainable production and purchasing globally accessible. "The changes all go in the right direction environmentally and all in ways that make economic sense to HP and its customers. More power to these designers."

For retailers, the new packaging is also expected to save significant transportation and storage costs while freeing up valuable display space.

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This is big news, and I wish more corporations would follow suit. Have you seen all the useless packaging used? Have you bought a flash drive whose package was the size of a book? Thats oil used to make the plastic, space taken up so less can be moved, more packages lead to more shipping and more wasted oil... This is a big step...