A company called 3PAR is promoting a new idea in computer hardware. When you buy one of their products, they automatically include carbon offsets [1] for the energy it will use. The products themselves aren’t exactly everyday consumer items, but I can see this idea catching on as manufacturers realize that green values can be a differentiator.
[thanks for the link, Adam!]
[1] Wikipedia has more info on carbon offsets. They’re controversial, but I personally think they do real good and raise awareness. If people start thinking about the amount of energy something uses as an added up-front cost, it helps make efficiency part of the buying decision.
It looks like Dell does something similar: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/technology/10dell.html?ex=1326085200en=db0140127eda4f4bei=5088partner=rssnytemc=rss
I read about this in Time, too. They offer customers the chance to spend $2 more for a laptop or $6 more for a desktop PC to plant a tree to offset the carbon emissions. They also offer free hardware recycling. I would always pick a Mac over a PC (I’d rather just go donate to a plant-a-tree organization) but it’s pretty keen, nonetheless.