HP sponsors premiere of global warming film, continues environmental commitment

Global warming may seem too large a problem for any one person to solve. However, each person can make a real difference. That’s a message supported in An Inconvenient Truth, a new film documenting former Vice President Al Gore’s campaign to raise awareness about the stark effects of greenhouse gases on the Earth’s climate. As presenting sponsor of the film’s Los Angeles premiere on May 16, HP is committed to helping its customers make environmentally responsible choices while reducing the company’s own impact on the planet.

Directed by David Guggenheim, An Inconvenient Truth follows Gore as he presents the threats of global warming—rapidly melting glaciers, more frequent and intense storms, countless species displaced from their natural habitats—and urges action before it’s too late. According to Gore, everyone must work to minimize their “carbon footprint”—the total amount of greenhouse gases each person adds to the atmosphere—by making changes in how they live and work.

Long a leader in environmental stewardship, HP has taken great strides toward reducing its own carbon footprint, from designing products with the environment in mind to adapting the company’s operating facilities to become more environmentally friendly. For example:

• HP integrates energy-saving features into its products and services as part of its Design for the Environment program. In fact, HP was one of the original partners in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program. This approach has led to approximately 1,000 HP Energy Star compliant products. HP’s focus on reducing environmental impacts most recently led to the development of HP’s teleconferencing technology, Halo, which has reduced the amount of travel in HP’s imaging and printing business by 8 percent last year alone  —eliminating 350 tons of CO₂, a greenhouse gas. HP also has invented an enterprise technology called Smart Cooling, which dramatically reduces energy use (and associated cost) by 25% in data centers.
• HP continuously looks for ways to improve the environmental efficiency of its operations.
  • HP measures the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by its combustion of fossil fuels and consumption of electricity. HP’s goals for 2006 include energy audits and efficiency projects at 53 of its largest facilities and the reduction of HP’s on-site GHG emissions by 18 percent. In 2005, HP implemented efficiency projects that saved more than 43 million kWh of electricity.
  • HP participates in the EPA’s Perfluorocarbon (PFC) Reduction Climate Partnership, a voluntary initiative to reduce PFC emissions by 10 percent from 1995 levels by the end of 2010. HP has set a goal to achieve these reductions by 2006. The global warming potential of PFCs—widely used in the semiconductor industry—ranges from 6,500 to 23,900 times greater than CO₂.
  • In 2004, HP increased renewable electricity purchases fourfold to approximately 8.6 million kWh. At 4.2 million kWh, HP’s site in Corvallis, Oregon, is the leading wind power customer in the region.
• HP manages its global supply chain to optimize environmental performance. For example, HP uses shipping that has a lower environmental impact, such as ocean and ground transportation in place of air freight wherever possible. HP also works with recycling vendors throughout the world to ensure that products returned to HP are processed in the region where they are collected.
• HP is proud to be an industry leader in product end of life management. Since 1987, HP has recycled more than 750 million pounds of products and supplies and is close to its goal of recycling 1 billion pounds by 2007. HP offers return and recycling programs in more than 40 countries, territories and regions and encloses postage-paid return envelopes in many new inkjet print cartridge boxes sold in the U.S., Canada and 13 countries throughout Europe.

Everyone has the ability to help reduce global warming. Visit the film’s website at www.climatecrisis.net to calculate your personal carbon footprint, and follow these tips to lessen your impact on the environment.

• Turn off lights, computers, peripherals and appliances when not in use, and set power-saving features.
• Recycle paper, glass, cans and batteries. You can even recycle print cartridges and electronic equipment—visit www.hp.com/recycle to learn how.
• Consider alternatives to business travel and daily commuting.
• Use compact fluorescent lightbulbs.
• Turn your thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer.
• Buy ENERGY STAR–qualified products—approximately 1,000 HP products are qualified.
• Drive fuel-efficient vehicles.
• Reduce waste by buying long-lasting products with less packaging.
• Reuse items by repairing or donating them.
• Plant a tree to help offset the CO₂ you contribute to the atmosphere.

An Inconvenient Truth will be shown in select theaters beginning May 24. To view a trailer and get more information, visit www.climatecrisis.net. View the short Take Action Video prepared by HP in conjunction with HP’s sponsorship of the premiere of An Inconvenient Truth.