I am no fan of big business. Most of the time, they are wasteful, think only of the profit and not the future, and for the most part are stodgy and boring. HP however has gone and done something that should have happened a long time ago. Walmart today named HP the winner of its Home Entertainment Design Challenge, singling out the technology company for further reducing the environmental impact of personal computers. The HP Pavilion dv6929 Entertainment Notebook reduces product packaging by 97 percent, conserving fuel and reducing CO2 emissions by removing the equivalent of one out of every four trucks previously needed to deliver the notebooks to Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations around the country.

In accordance with its long-standing Design for the Environment strategy, HP radically redesigned the packaging of the HP Pavilion dv6929 by replacing conventional protective shipping materials and boxes with the HP Protect Messenger Bag, a stylish and protective accessory with fabric made from 100 percent recycled materials. This allows for a dramatic reduction in overall packaging content and size while delivering equal, if not better, product protection when compared to conventional packaging. And the best part is you leave the store with a way to carry your laptop around, meaning that you buy one less thing in one less box. I am not sure why this hasn’t happened before but I would like to see all laptops from now on packaged in such a way. Now if only we could get them to build them in environmentally friendly factories.

Consumers who purchase the HP Pavilion dv6929 from Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations can take advantage of free recycling of their old PC, and also benefit from the variety of energy-efficient features that qualify the notebook for the Energy Star rating and Silver registration in the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEATTM).

“Caring for the environment is a personal choice that is becoming increasingly important for our customers,” said Steven DeWitt, senior vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. “We are honored that Walmart has not only recognized HP’s efforts to ensure that technology and environment enthusiasts have more sustainable choices available to them, but to also join them to help reduce our combined environmental impact from product development through delivery to the consumer.”

Walmart’s Home Entertainment Design Challenge was open to all suppliers of consumer electronics products and three criteria were used to evaluate the submissions:

Great design that attracts consumers.
Product innovation that reduces the environmental impact for its product category.
Packaging design that facilitates reuse and recycling, reduces waste, and reduces or eliminates the use of toxic materials.

God it almost makes me want to swallow my pure hatred of places like Wallmart long enough to go take a look at one…but I think I will resist. But still its a good thing to see HP continuing to find creative ways to reduce packaging and pollution. Pressure from consumers to have really green products would force companies to radically change there ways, but these are small baby steps that we must nurture into full blown movements.