PANGLAO ISLAND, Bohol -- From redesigning product packages to recycling computers and reducing power consumption, HP and Intel are looking at spreading the word about the need to preserve and protect the environment.

For its annual media offsite event held here, dubbed "Greenergy", computer giants Intel and HP cited local programs aligned with respective global "green" initiatives.

Intel, for example, is looking to reduce its carbon footprint globally by as much as 20 percent, and more specifically, reduce by five percent the energy it uses to produce every microprocessor.

The chipmaker runs a test-and-assembly plant in General Trias, Cavite. Naturally, as a semiconductor company, Intel is a large consumer of power.

"We were also able save 50 million kilowatt hours and save 100,000 cubic meters of water after implementing programs," reported Ricky Banaag, Intel Philippines country manager.

Intel's Cavite plant, Banaag said, is now able to recycle nearly 70 percent of its solid wastes.

Intel Philippines has also mounted a climate change awareness campaign, encouraging workers to engage as volunteers in nearby communities.

"This program has reached some 30,000 students in around 40 schools and happens on a continuing basis," Banaag said. "It's clearly about the environment for us in the Philippines."

Meanwhile, HP is touting new packaging designs in its products. Its inkjet cartridges, for example, have three times less the amount of material originally used.

Similarly, HP has started energy-efficiency programs locally. The US-based company employs some 3,000 people in the Philippines, majority of which belong to its business process outsourcing (BPO) business.

A three-month program implemented in one of its BPO facilities saved more than P600,000 in electricity costs by consolidating work areas for teams operating in nightshifts.

In the Philippines, HP has been partnering with local organizations, such as the Haribon Foundation and the Philippine Eagle Foundation to promote environmental awareness among its corporate customers.

Some of these programs are tied to its products. For every blade server a customer buys, for example, HP commits to planting a tree, as part of a reforestation project in Lake Caliraya., Laguna.

David Tan, HP Philippines managing director, said HP's local office is constantly looking to participate in green-related programs, partly driven by increasing corporate awareness.

"When our multinational BPO customers engage with the local delivery center, they want to make sure that HP is taking care of the local community," he said.