Dell made big play today at CES about becoming the first global technology company to enable carbon-neutral computers.  The company’s ‘Plant a tree for me’ initiative, as well as its broader environmental and recycling efforts are designed to off-set the negative impact of the computers that you or I might buy from them.

The European Commission also announced a new environmental initiative today in order to stave off catastrophic climate change.  As the energy commissioner, Andries Piebalgs, says:

“Europe can lead the world to a new industrial revolution: the development of a low carbon economy. Our ambition to create a working internal market, to promote a clean and efficient energy mix and to make the right choices in research and development will determine whether we lead this new scenario or we follow others.”

All this made me consider what small businesses can do to play their part in better environmental management.  Other than recycling, careful choice of suppliers and personal habits when it comes to power usage, it strikes me there should be many more schemes designed to help SMEs achieve carbon neutrality. 

Something I’ll be looking into, but if you know of any schemes do leave a comment or drop me a line.

Tags: Dell, European Commission, climate change, sustainability, SME, small business