In addition to being a company known for having numerous industry achievements, Dell’s achievements also extend to being green. As the first major PC company to go carbon neutral, Dell has always gone the extra mile for green living, always practicing the three R’s of recycling, always mindful of helping recycle. For its operations, Dell has implemented a company-wide power management program to automatically power off machines at night and during periods of inactivity. The act is equivalent to avoiding the production of about 8,500 tons of carbon dioxide. Another waste reduction step the company has taken is Dell’s requirement for its logistics providers to use biodiesel fuel for a portion of their energy demands in a year. Other effects of recycling include sourcing 35 percent of the company’s US energy demands from clean, renewable sources, assessing emissions from delivery vehicles and buses, requiring that supplier vehicles that have unacceptable levels of emissions have their vehicles repaired within ten days and eliminate the use of all brominated flame retardants and polyvinyl chloride.

Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell says the opportunity to make information technology green must be seized now, adding that in the future, people should look back and give green IT credit. for helping to mitigate the effects of climate change, strengthen global industries and chart a new and prosperous low-carbon economy.

Dell’s initiative to promote recycling involves a website dedicated to caring for the environment. The ReGeneration site is an online experience that allows people to get involved in caring for the environment and connect with others through projects and contests. The site uses fun activities to show people how recycling helps the environment.

Among the many green projects that Dell has undertaken include:
• Plant a Tree: A program in partnership with the Conservation Fund and Carbonfund.org that gives customers the opportunity to plant trees and offset their CO2 emissions earned through the use of the computer.
• Plant a Forest for Me: a program that allows organizations from around the world to facilitate the planting of trees in sustainable reforestation projects. Partners include AMD, ABN, AMRO, Ask.com, CGI, Staples, Salaesforce.com, Targus, and WellPoint.
• Reconnect – A computer recycling program in cooperation with Goodwill Industries for consumers who want to recycle their unwanted computer equipment by dropping off their computers at Goodwill donation centers.
• Dell Exchange – A free online exchange program that allows US customers to save electronics from landfills by exchanging them for Dell gift cards.
• Dell Greenprint Advisor – An online resource from Dell Earth to help organizations be greener and more efficient. A questionnaire will help an organization see how sustainable it is and provide suggestions on where future actions should be focused.

Dell’s many green efforts, along with its ReGeneration tagline of “reduce, reuse, and recycle,” have been shown to be effective in promoting recycling, earning the company the No. 1 in the corporate sustainability ranking for 2009 as reported by Technology Business Research (TBR), a leading high-tech market research and consulting firm focusing on computer and software analysis. With the various recycling processes it has been using today, Dell is seen as setting a good example for other technology companies to take steps to reduce their own carbon footprint.