Modern Hiker

Geeks have a lot to be excited about this week. Yesterday, Steve Jobs reduced legions of deskbound nerds to drooling, covetous dullards when he unveiled the iPhone, but we Greener streak of Geek also heard a few things worth trumpeting.

At the Detroit Auto Show, General Motors unveiled a concept electric car called the Volt, which can also generate electricity from an engine running on gasoline, ethanol, diesel, or hydrogen cells.

And last night, Michael Dell - Chairman and Founder of his eponymous computer company - challenged his fellow electronics manufacturers to adopt Dell’s extensive recycling program. Currently, Dell will recycle your old Dell equipment for no charge, and will recycle competitors’ equipment for a small fee. Said Dell:

“Today, I challenge every PC maker to join us in providing free recycling for every customer in every country you do business, all the time - no exceptions … It’s the right thing to do for our customers. It’s the right thing to do for our earth.”

Dell also announced a new program, where consumers can elect to have a portion of their purchases go toward planting trees around the world … Which is pretty awesome.

Let’s hear it for treehuggin’ corporate-types!