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The last time I bought a computer it came with approximately 87 pounds of cardboard, plastic and Styrofoam packaging.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't quite that much. But buying a computer (or just about any piece of home electronics) can quickly teach you how important it is to reduce the amount of packaging that comes on the products we make, sell or buy. More packaing equals more waste, and more waste equals less trash. (Plus more packaging means more weight, and therefore costs, to deliver a product.)

HP and Walmart agree. The computer maker just won the giant retailer's Home Entertainment Design Challenge, which called for companies to reduce the environmental impact of their products. HP's new Pavilion dv6929 Entertainment Notebook embraces this ideal by using a whopping 97% less packaging. The laptop is shipped to stores in its own messenger bag, which itself is made from 100% recycled materials. The bag contains everything the buyer will need to use his or her new computer, and they get to take the entire package home with them when they buy it.

HP is shipping the laptops to Walmart inside the messenger bags, which protect them perfectly, with three computers and bags per shipping container. 

Meanwhile, the packaging isn't the only thing green about this laptop. It features "aggressive power-management settings help reduce notebook power consumption" and comes with a free recycling option from HP. Nice.

The dv6929 isn't available online -- shipping it in a box would kind of defeat the purpose -- but it is available at select Walmart stores. Click here to find out if it's available in your area.