06/04/2025
World Environment Day 2025, themed #BeatPlasticPollution, shines a spotlight on one of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Each year, more than 400 million tons of plastic waste are produced—yet less than 10% is ever recycled.
Tackling a crisis of this scale demands more than a single solution. It requires rethinking the everyday products that surround us, both as businesses and as consumers. At ViewSonic, that realization led us to take a hard look at how we design and build the displays people rely on every day. We’ve begun reshaping our product lifecycle from the ground up: reconsidering how materials are sourced, how energy is used, how packaging is structured, and how devices are handled at the end of their life.
A clear example lies in what we’re best known for: our monitors. From the heavy, power-hungry CRTs of the early days, we’ve come a long way. Today’s models reflect a very different mindset, one focused on lighter impact, longer use, and more thoughtful design.
It Starts with How We Build
If we want to reduce waste, we can’t just focus on what happens at the end, we have to rethink what we build and how we build it. That’s why we’ve made efficiency a starting point, designing hardware that does more with less, from its first function to its final footprint.
Making Efficiency a Design Principle
Monitors are primarily made of plastic, and as displays have grown significantly in size over the past decade, reducing plastic use has meant rethinking the physical design itself. Much like performance engineers approaching a race bike or car, we went back to the drawing board—stripping away every nonessential gram, optimizing form without compromise, and building with precision and purpose.
The result? Our latest VG51, VG52, and VG58 series feature stand designs trimmed by 10%, conserving raw materials and reducing shipping volume, which in turn helps lower emissions across logistics and delivery. And in models like the VP1656 and VG1656N, adopting USB-C connectivity has allowed us to simplify input configurations, minimizing extra cables and power units for more streamlined setups.
Less visible—but no less impactful—we’ve also worked to reduce the energy consumption of our monitors. Energy efficiency is no longer a bonus; it’s a baseline. Beyond its financial cost to users, every kilowatt-hour has an environmental footprint, especially as much of the world’s electricity still comes from fossil or nuclear sources. That’s why we’re designing hardware that does more with less, without compromising performance. Models like the VG3456A, VG2756-2K, and VP1656 meet EPEAT Gold and ENERGY STAR certifications, reinforcing our commitment to lowering energy use, reducing material waste, and minimizing overall impact.
These aren’t flashy changes. But they’re deliberate ones, rooted in the belief that small design choices can ripple outward, through supply chains, workplaces, and the planet.
Designing With Circularity in Mind
Sustainability isn’t just about using less—it’s about building with the full product lifecycle in mind. That’s the thinking behind our growing focus on circular design. Across our monitor lineup, we’ve increased the use of post-consumer recycled plastics and carefully selected materials that meet stringent safety and sustainability standards. While regulations like RoHS set a baseline by restricting hazardous substances, we go beyond and also mark material content to facilitate future recycling.
Circular design requires more effort up front, but it ensures that the displays we make today are more repairable, more recoverable, and far less likely to end up as waste.
If It’s Single-Use, Make It Count
Few things are more short-lived than packaging, and yet few leave behind more waste. That’s the contradiction at the heart of packaging. At ViewSonic, we’ve chosen to address it not just by reducing plastic use, but by minimizing the environmental impact of the entire journey—from the first fold of the cardboard to the last moment before it’s thrown away.
In our ColorPro lineup, for example, we’ve redesigned the four packaging components with the highest environmental impact: cushioning, ties, cardboard, and ink. We’ve moved away from traditional Styrofoam, opting for recyclable, paper-based cushioning. We’ve also adopted FSC-certified cardboard and switched to water-based inks, reducing pollutants and supporting more sustainable production.
Beyond materials, we’ve rethought the packaging structure itself. By minimizing unused space and optimizing box dimensions, we’ve reduced material use and helped lower emissions from shipping. What’s more, some models, such as the ColorPro VP2786A-4K and VP2776T-4K, now ship in multi-use cartons that can be repurposed as pen holders or desk organizers, extending their usefulness well beyond the unboxing moment.
While these changes began with ColorPro monitors, they’ve since expanded to other product lines, and our goal is to make them the standard across our entire monitor portfolio.
A Roadmap Toward Net Zero
Sustainable design is just one part of a larger effort. Addressing our share of the climate challenge means committing to measurable, long-term change—not just as a business, but across every part of our organization.
By 2030, we’re targeting a 42% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, including those generated through the goods and services we purchase, and the energy used during the lifetime operation of our products. These two areas represent the largest portion of our environmental footprint, and the greatest opportunity for change.
Our 2050 goal is net-zero emissions, aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target. Reaching it will require continued work across sourcing, logistics, facility management, and end-of-life processes—driven by science, transparency, and a long-term sense of responsibility.
These targets give us more than direction. They give us a reason to keep pushing for better.
Looking Ahead
Plastic pollution won’t be solved by one campaign, one product line, or one company. But change happens through decisions—how we build, how we ship, and how we show up.
At ViewSonic, we believe that thoughtful design, grounded in values and backed by clear goals, can contribute to something bigger. We’re not stopping at monitors. The same approach now guides our full lineup, from pen displays and projectors to All-in-One LED displays, extended through proprietary software and designed for easy integration and interoperability to reduce waste and maximize utility. From materials and mechanics to packaging and emissions, we’re working to reduce our footprint and help shape a more circular, lower-impact future
There’s more to do. But we’re not standing still. Every new product is a chance to do better—and that’s a responsibility we choose to carry forward.
Explore our ESG commitments and discover how our ColorPro and business monitors reflect our evolving approach to sustainable product design.
