Linksys: Product + Packaging + Energy = Green

Networking vendor Linksys is making a strong push into Green IT with several new initiatives designed to help consumers make greener networking choices.

Graeme Reardon, regional director A/NZ for Linksys said the company is taking an active approach to investing in greening its products and business activities.

“We’re looking at our Green initiatives from a very high level. We’re trying to be greener,” he said.

Aside from an increased use of travel-saving telepresence, Reardon said that Linksys is also overhauling its packaging processes and materials. Some of the steps the company is taking include reducing box sizes and removing the often superfluous "product sleeve" to directly print product information onto the packaging itself.

The vendor is also cutting down on the number of included plastic bags, and all packaging and documents are being printed on bio-degradable paper that uses eco-friendly inks made from vegetable or soy products. Linksys claims these initiatives will save around 790 acres of pine forests per year and take up to 3000 cars off the road.

More than thirty Linksys products have now received ‘Energy Star’ and Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) certified ratings. These products, which include routers, gateways and modems, now meet EPA, US Department of Energy and Australian State regulations for energy performance ratings. The company claimed that by shaving watts from the power supplies used by its routers and modems they can save enough power to light 14,000 homes for a day.

Consumer demand and corporate responsibility has been the driver for these initiatives, according to Reardon.

“Consumers are coming to us saying ‘we want to know what you’re doing about green,’” he said.

Reardon said that Linksys will launch a fully recycled product within the next three years, but at the time press, detailed information was not available.