We would like to order 33,000 computer systems, please. And, by the way, on 24,000 of them, hold the boxes."

That's essentially what United Technologies (UTC) told Dell and its software vendor recently as it placed one of its periodic orders to upgrade computers at its 700 North American sites. As for the 9,000 boxed systems? UTC will use the boxes to return old systems.

The company's goal: eliminate about 66 tons of waste it would otherwise have to pay to get rid of. And UTC stands to save more—about $25 million in energy costs—through participation in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star 2005 Million Monitor Drive.

That's the business justification for UTC. Environmentally, everyone wins. Each ton of paper saved is the equivalent of about 528 trees, 4,224 gallons of oil, or 2,772 gallons of gas.

Dell will actually ship the computers in boxes to UTC's software vendor, who will unbox them, install the software, and load the computers on carts for delivery to UTC, which has not paid extra for the service. The software vendor will reuse the boxes.

UTC's boxless computer order is part of a "green" trend in purchasing.

• IBM is picking up leased servers when the leases run out and recycling both the components and boxes. In Japan, the company is using paper tape on packages, not cellular tape, and cardboard rather than Styrofoam for packaging.
• Eaton Corp.'s Kings Mountain, Mich. facility is recycling 40-60% of its coolant. The company's Italian facilities are switching from oil to vegetable oil, while at its U.S. auto plants it is getting rid of additives that are harmful to the environment.
• Corona, Calif.-based Thoro Packaging is using soy-based inks in its offset printing process. The price is the same as more harmful regular ink.
• And Reed Business Information, parent of PURCHASING magazine, is using recycled paper for stationery, recycling cardboard and looking for ways to recycle ink cartridges. (In fact, the magazine you hold is printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink.)

Spawned by legislation and companies' sense of corporate responsibility, these and other 'green' purchasing activities are showing up throughout the economy.

On the following pages, you'll find special reports covering 'green' purchasing activities in electronics, logistics and office products. There is more on www.Purchasing.com. And, we'll continue our coverage in December.

Environmentally conscious purchasing activities are here to stay. This coverage should bring you up to date. Let us know about your own activities.