The Business Case for Sustainability

Tod Arbogast, Director of Sustainable Business at Dell, talks about how your company can do well by doing good.

Today, about two years after Michael declared Dell's aspiration to be the greenest IT company on the planet, our employees are living our commitment to corporate responsibility every day, and in many different forms.
 
 

You can get an update on what we've been up to with regard to environmental sustainability, social responsibility and corporate accountability in our 2008 corporate responsibility report, which we just launched today.
 
 

In my role, I'm closest to our environmental considerations and advocacy, which we've broken into six categories:   climate leadership, sustainable operations, product and packaging solutions, global recycling, engagement and empowerment, and services and solutions.

I am often asked if what I do for Dell is good for business. The answer is yes - a company can do well by doing good. There's a great business case for building sustainability into your business. 

For example, investing in energy-efficiency and renewable energy is great for our business. By optimizing energy consumption in our operations, we reduce energy costs and our carbon footprint. You may have seen our recent announcement that we're saving $5.8 million a year as a result of building automation, upgrades and smart IT management. 

More than that, though, our customers tell us they want to buy from a company that's responsible in its operations - and that includes operating with the environment in mind. And we're making great progress, offering free, convenient computer recycling to consumers worldwide; getting more than 25 percent of our electricity needs from clean and renewable energy sources and offering more Energy Star and EPEAT-certified systems than ever before.
 
 

You can even trade in your old computer toward a new one (which, by the way, is a surprise to a lot of people. So tell a friend!).

But sustainability is a journey, and there's so much more we can do - we WILL do. As always, we welcome your ideas and feedback. We look forward to working together for the betterment of this Earth we all share.