Acer Aspire Vero: a laptop to save the world

The Acer Aspire Vero is a laptop that puts the environment first. It uses post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic for its casing and keyboard, in a box made from 80-85% recycled paper and uses paper sleeves instead of plastic to wrap it. This makes it the best laptop choice for the environmentally aware.

Acer started its May press conference by introducing its new Earthion platform – a word they made up combining Earth and mission – as the focus of its sustainability mission. The group has committed to using 100% renewable energy by 2035 and will concentrate its environmental efforts on product design, packaging design, production, logistics and recycling.

The Aspire Vero is described as a sustainability-focused notebook. There is no paint or surface treatments that have been added to the laptop casing and even the graphics on the shipping box are printed with soy ink.

• Sonos earbuds are coming and will make you forget about AirPods 3
• Electric scooters: the Scotsman e-scooter looks like it’s come from the future
• What the insides of the iMac 24-inch can tell us about the upcoming MacBook Pro

There is also a focus here on repairability and upgradability. Standard screws are used to make disassembly easier for repair or recycling, and both the memory and storage are easily upgradable. All this means that the laptop should last you longer.

Despite being environmentally focused, the Vero still has a decent spec list. It features 11th gen Intel Core processors, Intel Iris X graphics, DDR4 RAM and up to 1TB storage.  There’s a full HD 15.6-inch 16:9 display and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. For a little quirk, the R and E keys on the keyboard are reversed and have a yellow font color – presumably to signify the recycled materials used.

While it’s not the very fastest machine out there, it is a solid home or work laptop and is an easy way to do your bit for the environment. Price and availability are still to be confirmed.