Being green is not just about building more sustainable and efficient products. A big part of it is about getting all those LCD screens and computers to us by using less fossil fuel. That represents a big part of a company’s carbon footprint.

Two electronics companies, Sharp and HP, are touting their smaller carbon feet. The companies were among 27 that received SmartWay Excellence Awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for “conserving energy and lowering greenhouse gas emissions from their surface transportation supply chains.”

In other words, they use less fuel for truck transportation. Both Sharp and HP use SmartWay Transportation partners that distribute their products throughout North America in fuel-efficient ways by reducing idling, upgrading trucks and trailers aerodynamically, upgrading tires, and improving pickup and delivery scheduling.

SmartWay Partner carriers conserve more than 540 million gallons of diesel fuel per year, saving the trucking industry more than $2 billion in annual fuel and maintenance costs and eliminating more than 6 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming, according to the EPA.

Earlier this year, HP became the first company to qualify to have the SmartWay logo displayed on its product packaging after certifying its entire surface transportation carrier network for consumer desktops, monitors and accessories was SmartWay compliant. In August, this was expanded to include business PCs, monitors, notebooks, servers, storage, thin clients, workstations and all imaging and printing devices.

HP says its U.S. and Canadian surface transportation supply chain is composed of 100 percent SmartWay compliant carriers.

Ninety percent of the carriers that Sharp works with are members of the SmartWay Transportation Partnership. Sharp is the only company to win an award in the “Shipping” category three years in a row. Sharp is an active program participant, working closely with SmartWay to help establish a border program with Mexico.

About the Author:
Steven Castle - Contributing Writer

Steven Castle is a writer, editor, and humorist who recently completed Filthy Rich Things, a savage satire on our thirst for success and wealth. He is presently expanding his magazine work by writing more about alternative energy sources and green building.