Buy a PC, plant a tree. Sure, it's a gimmick, but as gimmicks go, it's a pretty good one. I didn't see Michael Dell's "Plant a Tree for Me" announcement at CES this year, but I was told the auditorium was pretty empty. That's too bad, because his program could go a long way toward solving a pretty serious problem. We live in a culture that never powers down, and all that power takes a toll on the environment.

From now on, whenever you buy a Dell PC, you'll have the option of donating a few dollars toward the planting of a new tree. And it's not for nothing. A PC requires electricity, and generating electricity typically involves spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If you saw Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth, it seems pretty clear that this is a problem, especially for those of us living at sea level, near the coastline. New trees can offset some of those carbon emissions.

The recommended donation is $2 for notebooks and $6 for desktops. Because desktops use more power than notebooks, more trees are needed to offset their carbon load. Unfortunately, carbon neutrality won't happen overnight. Donation amounts are based on the carbon-dioxide emissions we're expected to generate as we power our PCs over the next three years--0.42 tons for each notebook and 1.26 tons for each desktop. A single tree can trap enough carbon to make up for a desktop, but it needs about 70 years to do it.

Granted, , you might be inclined to think that this is just another way for Dell to take your money, but the company's putting your money to good use. The fee is a token one, to be sure, but it might change the way people think about consumer electronics. I see it the same way I see that checkbox on my tax return, the one that sends $3 from my yearly tax bill to the Federal Election Commission. I'm guessing that IRS checkbox represents the first time the average voter actually realizes that election campaigns are partially federally financed. Likewise, the checkbox on Dell's site may be the first time that the average PC buyer thinks about the environmental impact of all that Web surfing.

In addition to taking a lead in carbon offsets, Dell has one of the best recycling programs in the industry. The company announced a free recycling program three years ago, and in June, it took it a step further. Today, you can send any aging Dell computer back to the company for free--even if you don't buy a new system. And if you do buy a new system, the company will actually send someone to pick up your old, junky PC. Again, this is a free service, and your old PC doesn't have to be a Dell. Several vendors have tried similar programs, but this is the first one I've seen that's so expansive and downright foolproof.

Right now, manufacturers such as HP and Apple charge anywhere from $13 to $30 to dispose of your old computer. That's just enough disincentive to ensure that most of those systems will land in a landfill.

This is a huge problem--not just for users, but for businesses. Here at PC Magazine Labs, we're in the process of phasing out the last of our old CRT monitors and replacing them with LCDs. CRT monitors contain a huge amount of toxic lead. We're talking 8 pounds a pop, if you consider all the glass, frit, and solder in a big CRT. This isn't something we want leaking into our water tables.

I hope manufacturers step up to the plate. Better still, they should try working together. The top five PC vendors should pool their resources and create a single infrastructure for the recycling of high-tech gear. It won't be easy, but if they fail to act, they'll soon invite the involvement of state and federal agencies.

As it is, 26 states are regulating the disposal of consumer electronics or considering such regulations. And landfill bans on CRT monitors are already in effect in Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and California. Sure, you can just toss your old machine into the garbage can, but remember, all those PCs and monitors have serial numbers. (And soon, probably RFID tags.) No one likes a litterbug, and polluters get even worse press--no to mention steeper fines.

I don't want to live in a world without PCs, iPods, and always-on broadband Internet connections. After all, this is my livelihood. That said, it's high time we start thinking of the carbon offsets. We're not going to solve global warming simply by planting trees. But it's a start.