Technology that's green from the roots up

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has found a way to turn used water bottles, along with other types of recyclable consumer plastics, into ink-jet printer cartridges, says Computerworld.

In fact, HP turned more than five million pounds of recycled plastic into ink-jet cartridges in 2007 and plans to use twice as much this year.

The project, part of HP's Design for Environment programme, is just one way for the company to meet its green objectives, says Pat Tiernan, vice-president for social and environmental responsibility.

Accenture has introduced the Accenture Green Technology Suite, a set of tools designed to help an organisation assess its environmental standing, provide recommendations on how to address its carbon footprint by improving the way IT is managed, and support the entire organisation's green agenda, reports Fox Business.

The new tools offer a holistic view across the entire IT organisation, providing everything from detailed assessments of where the enterprise sits within a green "maturity spectrum", to suggesting IT initiatives that can be undertaken to proactively address the company's future carbon footprint.

The tools also help calculate the impact of the specific initiatives in terms of workplace environmental efficiency and data centre energy savings.

Bank of America is making what it calls a "strategic investment" in a Philadelphia firm as part of its strategy to become a more environment-friendly company, reports Local Tech Wire.

Just how much the bank is investing in Field Diagnostic Services (FDS) was not disclosed.

FDS offers energy management solutions. Bank of America said it would deploy FDS technology across the company to cut energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.