Don’t take Grandma to Wal-Mart: the big-box store’s new Hewlett-Packard laptop “will be displayed on shelves wearing only the HP Protect Messenger Bag.” Scandalous! But actually, there’s no need to avert your eyes: the HP Pavilion dv6929 is served up in a recycled, reusable messenger bag instead of a box, cutting cardboard and plastic packaging by 97 percent. Thinking outside the box helped HP win Wal-Mart’s Home Entertainment Design Challenge, which judged suppliers’ products on attractive design, environmental innovation, and less-wasteful, less-toxic packaging. Wal-Mart says 25 percent less truck space is now needed to schlep the computer to stores, cutting transportation costs by 31 percent. In addition, purchasers of the $798 laptop, which is available only at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, can recycle an old PC for free.
