Dell selling laptop as world's greenest

It may not come in a sustainably-harvested bamboo case, but if you're shopping for an eco-friendly computer, the Dell Latitude D630 is in a league of its own. This model is the first laptop on the market worldwide to win the highest, gold rating from EPEAT, which measures energy-efficiency and green design elements in electronics.

EPEAT ratings, run by the nonprofit Green Electronics Council, take into consideration low-toxic materials as well as the energy conservation and ease of recycling of computers, printers and monitors. The acronym stands for Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool. When that program launched last year, the pickings were slim. Yet now there are 3 products marked EPEAT gold, 442 ranked next-best as silver, and 62 items rated basic bronze.

The Dell notebook meets EnergyStar requirements of 80 percent efficiency and ships in packaging made from partly-recycled cardboard. Judging by its CNET Editors' Choice award, the Dell D630 performs well too.

The HP rp5700 Business Desktop as well as Dell OptiPlex 740 and 745 mini-tower systems also received gold EPEAT labeling recently.

Dell this week announced plans to reduce its corporate carbon footprint by 15 percent or more within five years and demand that suppliers disclose their own greenhouse gas emissions. Dell also gives customers the option to pay a few bucks extra per PC purchase to plant a tree. Many mainstream electronics makers, including HP and Apple, are pushing to cut carbon emissions and energy waste.