HP has been given an award for its efforts to make its notebook systems more environmentally friendly.

The company has been named as the winner of Wal-Mart's Home Entertainment Design Challenge for its work in producing greener notebooks.

HP won the award for its Pavilion DV6929 model, a consumer notebook geared towards multimedia and entertainment applications.

The company is currently offering the model in 1,700 Wal-Mart and 598 Sam's Club stores in the US.

The cornerstone of HP's project was packaging. In addition to standard energy saving features, the packaging required for the notebook was almost completely eliminated.

Instead, HP shipped the notebook inside an HP Protect bag which is constructed entirely from recyclable materials. As a result, the company was able to cut packaging by 97 per cent.

HP claims that the new packaging also conserves energy. Because the packages are smaller and lighter, the company claims that 25 per cent fewer trucks were needed to transport the DV6929.

"Caring for the environment is a personal choice that is becoming increasingly important for our customers," said Steven DeWitt, senior vice president at HP's Personal Systems Group.

"We are honoured that Wal-Mart has recognised HP's efforts to ensure that technology and environment enthusiasts have more sustainable choices available to them."

According to the most recent reports by Greenpeace, HP ranks 9th overall among the top consumer electronics vendors for the 'greenness' of its products.

However, while the company was praised for its recycling efforts, Greenpeace criticised HP for being slow to eliminate potentially hazardous materials in its products.