Dell kicks off trees-for-PCs scheme

Dell has announced the launch of a tree-planting scheme for owners of its computers to offset the carbon emissions generated by the electricity powering their machines.

Company chairman Michael Dell used a keynote speech to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday to launch the "Plant a Tree for Me" programme, at the same time as introducing a number of new gaming systems and components.

The "Plant a Tree for Me" program essentially encourages consumers to donate money - $2 for laptops and $6 for desktops - when they buy new PCs from Dell. The money will be spent on planting trees which will absorb carbon dioxide from the Earth's atmosphere, offsetting the equivalent emissions resulting from the production of electricity used during the average three-year use of a computer. Dell is working with the Conservation Fund and Carbonfund.org on the project.

PCs generate a lot of carbon dioxide indirectly, said Larry Selzer of the Conservation Fund. The electricity used to run them often comes from coal-burning power plants. In three years, the average desktop will cause 1.26 tons of CO2 to be produced while a laptop will cause 0.42 tons to be generated.

A tree, meanwhile, will suck up 1.33 tons of CO2 over a 70-year life span. Thus, if the tree lives 70 years and a desktop is retired after three years, it's close to parity.

During his speech, Dell talked up the company's environmental credentials, noting that it is one of the largest PC recyclers in the world and takes in PCs from all manufacturers. By 2009, it will have taken in 275 million pounds of electronic waste, he said.

He added: "I challenge other PC makers to join us in free recycling for every customer in every country - no exceptions."

According to Dell, the company has also been producing more energy-efficient PCs. A new version of the Optiplex desktop, the 745, consumes roughly 70 per cent less electricity than similar, earlier versions. Much of the power savings come from new processors but Dell designers continually shop for energy-efficient components, he said. Certain PowerEdge servers now come with 2.5-inch hard drives instead of 3.5-inch drives, which results in "significant" power savings, he added.

The Plant a Tree programme has been opened to US consumers and will be expanded globally in April. Consumers donate their own money. Dell, however, is making donations to offset the carbon produced in transporting the PC to consumers, Dell said.

The company also announced a back-up service - called Dell DataSafe - which enables consumers to back up data from old PCs onto a website where it can be downloaded to a new machine at a later date. Dell will also install a user's old data at the factory when a new PC is ordered.

Michael Kanellos writes for CNET News.com