We’ve always made it a priority to reduce paper usage here at Dell, so today we’re making it easier for shareholders to receive the company’s 10-K annual report, proxy statement and other financial materials electronically. For each shareholder who participates, Dell will make a donation to The Conservation Fund and Carbonfund.org to plant a new tree in a sustainably-managed forest.
In addition, we plan on avoiding the use of nearly 255,000 pounds of paper by replacing the printed Year in Review with an interactive online resource center.
We have been encouraged by the response to our ‘Plant a Tree for Me’ program and see this as a way to partner with shareholders to make a difference for the earth we all share. Reducing our impact on the world’s forests and climate has been a longstanding cornerstone of Dell’s commitment to a cleaner Earth.
For shareholders, signing up is as easy as visiting the Investor Relations section on Dell.com. In addition to new trees, we estimate potential savings of 678,000 pounds of paper, or the equivalent of more than 7,000 trees if 100 percent of shareholders participate.
We will continue to look for ways to use recycled material throughout the company’s global operations, including catalogs, product packaging and office supplies. We recently announced we had exceeded our five-year goal to use 50 percent recycled content by 2009. Our marketing publications use an average of 50 percent recycled content paper – and many publications use up to 90 percent.
As always, I’d welcome your thoughts on other ways we can help sustain our environment. For more on Dell’s environmental commitment, please visit www.dell.com/earth