Dell's Customers Say: I'll Take the Computer, But Not The Tree

Photo Via Flickr: World Resources Institute Staff

Dell’s Plant a Tree for Me program isn’t going too swiftly. The plan allows a customer to spend an extra couple bucks with the purchase of a notebook or desktop to help offset the carbon emissions generated by that device over the next three years. It's basically an instant carbon offset purchase through which trees are planted to absorb the CO2 created through the use of the laptop or desktop and contribute to reforestation.

The problem is, customers aren’t buying in.

Less than 1% of customers last year opted to dole out an extra $2 per notebook or $6 per desktop to help plant a tree or two.

It might be that users aren’t fully aware of what the program means and why the little extra makes a difference. It might be that customers, in a bout of corporate distrust, don’t believe that the tree will really get planted and so don’t want to contribute. Perhaps customers think Dell should be doing this on their own and not asking customers to pay more. Or maybe they don't even know about the program at all when they're buying their new computer.

Whatever the reason, Dell isn’t discouraged.

The company is continuing its green efforts, from investing in renewable energy, to going carbon neutral, to improving the eco-friendliness, efficiency and recyclability of its products – and it is continuing on with the Plant a Tree for Me program.

Via Guardian

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