The Six Five team explores HP Earth Day 2021 and HP’s aggressive climate action goals, including counteracting deforestation for non-HP paper used in products and print services by 2030.
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Transcript:
Daniel Newman: Pat, we got to move on, man. Promised everybody sustainability was going to be a little bit of a top topic. So this week was 420 and Earth Day. And I only say those things like as distinct events, because apparently with all the legalization that’s happened here in this country, 420 is a bigger holiday than I even remembered it being. Dazed and confused I shall say. But anyways, it’s like Joe Kernen on CNBC. He always finds a way to talk about marijuana and marijuana stocks. I don’t know what his deal is with that, but that always makes me laugh.
Patrick Moorhead: Daniel, it’s stonks now. Get with the program.
Daniel Newman: Stonks. But listen, HP is also getting into this space and another company that’s on a really, really solid trajectory. You wrote a nice piece in Forbes. Talk a little bit about what’s going on there.
Patrick Moorhead: Yeah, no, I appreciate that. So, HP, basically PCs and printers and softwares and software and services. So they do create a lot of potential things that can pollute the environment. They’ve been very aggressive on this, which I think I appreciate, but they came out swinging on this. Essentially, their overarching motivations reiterate a net-zero carbon, fully regenerative economy, reduce the overall environmental footprint, and create the, and here’s the clincher, the most sustainable portfolio products and solution in the industry.
Basically, that’s saying, “We’re going do this better than you, Dell, Lenovo, Apple, Canon and Xerox.” So those are some pretty big fighting words. They came out with some new timeframes, when they’re going to reach net-zero carbon, neutrality, reduction in value chain greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, reach net-zero deforestation, counteract deforestation for non-HP paper.
See, HP-printed paper, they basically, and I’m simplifying this, right? You buy a binder full of HP paper and they plant a tree. I know that’s not exactly it, but you get the point, even using non-HP printer. And then they talked about, which I think for the people tuning in, is even more interesting. They talked about the five things that they’re going to do. So, first, transitioning portfolio to print and Compute-as-a-Service models. They’re implementing a supplies renewal services, like Instant Ink that we talk a little bit about here, and adopting more circular hardware solutions. We wrote a white paper on that. You can find that on my website, ching. Third, decarbonization of supply chain, encouraging the shift to renewable electricity. And fourth, designing products with both existing and new energy-efficient technologies. I know that sounds a little bit like motherhood and apple pie, but here’s what I’d like to see.
I’d like to see some designs from the ground up that are upgradable, that can be used for a decade. That’s what I’d like to see from HP. And maybe that’s hidden inside of some of the words here on what they’re going to do, but that’s what I’d like to see. I’d like to see an entire lineup, and yes, I know it’s more expensive. Yes, I know it’s probably going to be a little bit thicker, but let’s put our money where our mouth is. We either believe that consumers care about this and are willing to pay something. I got to tell you though, Danny, you had mentioned that call we had with HPE. Very pragmatic that, hey, consumers won’t pay more. Well, if we won’t pay more, can we really say that we really care about that. We only have 20 minutes left here, but we should debate that at some point, if people aren’t willing to pay more, are we really behind this?
Daniel Newman: Let me touch on that quickly. I mean, I think people are going to start paying less for companies that don’t do it. So there’s different derivatives to yield the result, and people will start paying less or supporting less. So keeping margins intact, needing to find ways to build sustainable products with greater margins and greater efficiencies, we’re still in the early innings. It costs more. It’s more complex. It’s more difficult. And we definitely could take some time, talk more about this. I will also say, Pat, some companies are getting really creative. I’m a watch guy and, I’m turning 40 this month, in case anybody wants to rain down presents on me, but I was looking for kind of a cool watch, nothing crazy, not like a [Patek Philippe], but you know, I like these Panerai watches and they’re kind of a mid-tier watch, and they’re doing this eSteel simple case watch now, 100% sustainable. Everything.
The steel is fully recycled. The band, the strap, and all I’m saying is this is the way you start to get there. It’s one step at a time, one foot in front of the other. Companies doing little things. So we’re getting there, we’re hearing things, but there’s always more that can be done, like more insights.
Author Information
Daniel is the CEO of The Futurum Group. Living his life at the intersection of people and technology, Daniel works with the world’s largest technology brands exploring Digital Transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise.
From the leading edge of AI to global technology policy, Daniel makes the connections between business, people and tech that are required for companies to benefit most from their technology investments. Daniel is a top 5 globally ranked industry analyst and his ideas are regularly cited or shared in television appearances by CNBC, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and hundreds of other sites around the world.
A 7x Best-Selling Author including his most recent book “Human/Machine.” Daniel is also a Forbes and MarketWatch (Dow Jones) contributor.
An MBA and Former Graduate Adjunct Faculty, Daniel is an Austin Texas transplant after 40 years in Chicago. His speaking takes him around the world each year as he shares his vision of the role technology will play in our future.
