Suitably impressed: HP snags a SmartWay nod

Hewlett-Packard has a proclamation to make: It is the first company to have been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use the so-called SmartWay logo.

What this means, simply, is that HP has adopted and enforced certain policies within its surface transportation network that are aimed at reducing fuel consumption and various greenhouse emissions. There are roughly 700 companies that have agreed to become SmartWay Transport Partners, but HP is the first one to get logo privileges.

HP products that have the right to bear the SmartWay stamp are the HP Pavilion and Compaq Presario consumer desktops, monitors and related accessories. The company is working on its transportation arrangements for other products: For example, it just began shipping its notebook computers in pallets made of recyclable plastic rather than wood as part of a pilot program with all of its major U.S. retail partners. The case for doing this: To protect against deforestation. It also helps that the plastic pallets happen to be stronger, more durable and lighter. (The weight, in turn, will help reduce fuel consumption.)