Offset this: a look at HP's carbon offset program

Although it’s welcome news that HP is making carbon offsets available to its customers when they buy one of its laser printers, you really have to ask why this seems to be a “sweetener” to get punters to open their wallets.

No disrespect to HP for getting on board the Green wagon, but isn’t it about time buyers could take it for granted that the technology they buy all comes with carbon offsets?

Surely it’s time that all toners come with a bag to send the old one off to Planet Ark for recycling? And all printers go to sleep whenever nobody uses them? And I mean really go to sleep – not burning 10W in their dopey wall-warts while pretending to be asleep. Surely we’ve learned something from the HiFi industry and all their “standby” kit which isn’t really standing by at all. More like “power by” while keeping quiet and looking black.

So we can’t really have a go at HP for having a go at being green but let’s not let them think it’s OK to run this as a ‘sweetener’ to choose their kit over somebody else’s kit – and only if we rush in before some magic end-date.

Let’s make it loud and clear to all the vendors that Green is the only colour we’re interested in when we replace our technology. After all, it’s not like we can just bugger-off to the next planet after we’ve used up all the goodness on this one.