Greenpeace may have downplayed Apple's recent environmental efforts, but the organization on Thursday is holding the company up as an example for everyone.
(Credit:
Greenpeace)
"Apple has stormed out of the biggest lobby group in the United States," reads a post on the environmental organization's Web site. "At issue is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's use of funds to oppose climate change legislation. Apple has done the right thing, and IBM and Microsoft should think different too."
Catherine Novelli, Apple's vice president of worldwide government affairs, informed the Chamber of Commerce in a letter on Monday that the company would be resigning its membership. Apple cited differences in environmental policies.
"Apple supports regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it is frustrating to find the chamber at odds with us in this effort," Novelli said in a letter to chamber President Thomas Donohue.
Donohue didn't take the news laying down. In a letter addressed to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Donohue said that "while we do support legislation to address climate change, we oppose legislation such as the Waxman-Markey bill that numerous studies show will cause Americans to lose their jobs and shift greenhouse gas emissions overseas, negating potential climate benefits."
Not surprisingly, Greenpeace doesn't agree with Donohue's position. It said the Chamber of Commerce should think about the number of jobs that would be created by helping clean up the environment, instead of lecturing Jobs about innovation.
Apple is the fourth company to leave the chamber in the past few weeks, and Greenpeace challenged other companies to follow Apple in departing the Chamber of Commerce.
"The stakes have never been higher for the climate," Greenpeace said. "Apple's move will throw an uncomfortable spotlight on any company that stays on in the chamber but doesn't act to change its policies."
The relationship between Apple and Greenpeace has been contentious, to say the least. The two have argued publicly over the extent of Apple's commitment to reducing the use of harmful chemicals in its products.
Greenpeace even demonstrated outside Jobs' Macworld keynote in 2007 to bring attention to its environmental efforts. Apple took the challenge and have worked for the last couple of years to remove harmful chemicals like PVC, mercury, arsenic, lead, and BFR from its products.
Greenpeace even released its own iPhone app version of its "Recycled Tissue and Toilet Paper Guide." The app allows users to compare brands to find the most environmentally friendly.
Greenpeace released its latest Guide to Greener Electronics on Wednesday, revealing that promises aren't always kept.
The Greenpeace guide, which started in 2006, ranks the top 17 PC, cell phone, TV, and gaming console manufacturers based on their policies regarding e-waste, climate change, and use of toxic chemicals.
Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Lenovo all dropped in the rankings for failing to live up to public promises to eliminate polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from their computers by the end of 2009, according to Greenpeace.
While 2009 isn't over yet, Greenpeace noted that the companies have reset their clocks. HP (14th place) formally pushed back its phase-out of the chemicals to 2011. Dell (13th place) will fail to meet the 2009 deadline, but has offered no new timeline. Lenovo (down from 14th to 16th place) changed to a 2010 deadline, and Greenpeace claimed it has information that even that deadline will be dropped.
In conjunction with the release, members of the group protested at HP's Beijing facilities last week.
Apple, meanwhile, dropped to 11th place from 9th. Greenpeace gave the Mac maker kudos for its success in making products completely BFR-free and "virtually free of PVC," as well as its green computer campaign. But Apple was scolded for using "unreasonably high threshold limits for BFRs and PVC in products that are allegedly PVC-/BFR-free." As experts have noted, since there is currently no widespread standard for reporting on many environmental and carbon footprint issues, companies have been struggling to determine their own guidelines. Apparently, Greenpeace didn't like the ones it saw Apple using for this category.
Microsoft remained in 15th place, still admonished by Greenpeace for not having a better customer e-waste return policy.
Samsung garnered 2nd for succeeding in producing PVC-free LCD TVs and lowering the overall amount of toxins in its other products by significant amounts. Sony Ericsson moved up from 5th place to 3rd for improving its energy efficiency.
Last place? Still Nintendo, though Greenpeace gave the Wii maker points for switching to PVC-free internal wiring in their gaming consoles.
First place continues to be the province of Nokia, which remains the greenest company in the eyes of Greenpeace, notably for the success of its take-back program for used phones.
While many companies have gotten serious about recycling tech junk, Greenpeace sees e-waste as one of the most serious forms of pollution going unchecked.
The environmental organization claims that e-waste is the fastest growing contributor of municipal waste because of the frequency at which people upgrade to new cell phones, computers, and other electronics. According to its estimates, 20 million to 50 million tonnes of electronics are thrown away each year worldwide.(Others estimate that e-waste will plateau by 2015.)
The new Windows 7 packaging.
(Credit: Microsoft)Before Microsoft announced Windows 7 pricing, the company detailed earlier this week how it plans to package the operating system.
Microsoft claims that Windows 7 packaging "has a 37 percent weight reduction, and the econometrics score has improved by 50 percent over its predecessor." Instead of forcing customers to read instructions on how to open the box, Windows 7 packaging will open just like a DVD case.
"We've reduced the number of elements in the package down to three: the plastic case, the paper sleeve, and a simple Getting Started Guide," Microsoft wrote in a blog post. "The plastic case opens easily like a standard DVD case, and it will have a single easy-to-remove seal at the top--and that's it!"
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, packaging accounts for a third of consumer garbage. And as CNET pointed out on the Green Tech blog, "plastics comprise 12 percent of U.S. waste each year, but are rarely recycled, while some scientists fear that irresponsible dumping is making a plastic soup of the world's oceans."
Although software arguably should not require any packaging, instead relying purely on Internet downloads, and plastic packaging could (and should) probably be avoided altogether, Microsoft's reduction of packaging materials corresponds with a trend that I think is better for all of us.
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Correction at 9:20 a.m. PDT: The time span for Office Depot's figures is one year.
Last year, Office Depot recycled almost 1.5 million pounds of old tech equipment through its service for consumers, the company said Wednesday.
That sounds like a lot. It makes you realize how quickly all those landfills must be filling up since that figure represents only the junk from people who 1) actually bother to recycle, and 2) chose to go with Office Depot's recycling program.
For a comparison, I decided to check how other company-sponsored recycling programs are doing. Unfortunately, as sustainability expert Kevin Wilhelm told CNET, there is yet to be a standard way for companies to calculate such statistics. What's included in recycling statistics varies from company to company, but the data I dug up offers a rough idea of what's going on in this arena.
Staples, an Office Depot competitor, began offering an in-store recycling service in May 2007. It charges $10 per large item regardless of where you originally bought it; recycles small items like keyboards, mice, and speakers for free; and offers $3 in Staples rewards for Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark or Dell brand printer cartridges.
By the end of the 2007, Staples had recycled 2 million pounds of tech junk, including almost 24 million printer cartridges in the U.S., according to the company's 2007 sustainability report.
What about the computer manufacturers themselves?
Hewlett-Packard has had a recycling program since 1987 and in January 2009 launched a new program that offers money for old tech equipment. As of June 2007, the company had recycled more than 1 billion pounds of electronics and printer cartridges and expanded to include consumer programs in 50 countries. HP's new goal is to reach 2 billion pounds by the end of 2010.
Unlike Office Depot, which asks customers for pay $5, $10, or $15 for a box they can fill with everything from printers to digital cameras, HP offers credit that can be put toward the purchase of an HP product.
Apple has consumer recycling programs in 95 percent of the countries where it sells its computers. In 2007, it collected about "21 million pounds of e-waste," according to the company's 2008 environmental report.
Dell offers consumer recycling programs worldwide. In the U.S., it's free. Between 2006 and 2008, Dell recycled about 255 million pounds of its own products. Its goal is to recover about 275 million pounds by the end of 2009, according to its 2008 Global Corporate Responsibility Report.
Big Blue seems to have recycled the most, or at least calculated the most.
Between 1995 (when it began keeping track) and the end of 2007, IBM "collected and recovered (resold, refurbished, or recycled)" more than 1.5 billion pounds of product and product waste worldwide, according to the company's latest corporate sustainability report.
In the U.S., IBM offers consumer recycling programs on a state-by-state basis.
While recycling tech equipment is definitely a positive way to do your part for the environment, it's also important to keep your computer information secure. Always remember to properly wipe computers clean of your personal information before giving away or recycling them. Coincidentally, CNET's Seth Rosenblatt did a piece on wiping hard drives clean earlier this week.
Related coverage:
• Apple overhauls iMacs, 24-inch models more affordable
• Apple finally refreshes Mac Mini with updated specs
Updated 8:25 a.m. PST with analyst note.
As expected, Apple announced desktop updates on Tuesday with a focus on energy efficiency.
There are new Mac Pro high-end desktops powered by Intel's Nehalem-based Xeon processors, new and more graphics-intensive Mac Mini machines, and updated iMacs that offer the lowest price yet on these consumer desktops.
Here are the new ports on the updated Mac Mini.
(Credit: Apple)All the new machines meet the requirements for Energy Star 5.0 certification, which kicks in this summer.
The new Mac Pro is priced at $2,499 for the quad-core version and at $3,299 for the eight-core version, with the Nehalem-based Xeon processors running at up to 2.93 GHz. The interior of the machine has been cleaned up to make physical expansions easier.
The new iMac all-in-one desktop offers a 24-inch screen and is priced at $1,499, the cost of Apple's previous 20-inch iMac. The 20-inch model now costs $1,199.
The 20-inch version comes with a 2.66 GHz processor, a 320GB hard drive, and 2GB of RAM expandable to 8GB. The 24-inch model offers processor speed options of 2.66 GHz, 2.93 GHz (for $1,799), or 3.02 GHz (for $2,199). The 24-incher comes with a 640GB hard drive and 4GB of RAM expandable to 8GB.
As for the new Mac Mini, the big upgrade: the Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics chip, which Apple says will improve graphics performance as much as fivefold. The machine (sans a monitor) costs $599 for a lower-end edition (1GB RAM, 120GB hard drive) or $799 for the higher-end (2GB RAM, 320GB hard drive).
The Mac Mini is the "world's most energy efficient desktop computer," Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook claimed in a statement. Cook is currently at the helm of the company while CEO Steve Jobs is out for six months for health reasons.
Analyst Maynard Um at UBS offered this assessment of Tuesday's news:
Not surprisingly, Apple unveiled a much anticipated refresh to its desktop line, though the timing was earlier than we expected. Updated iMac & Mac mini are available immediately with the new Mac Pro available next week. Though the new Macs may provide some boost to end of qtr Mac units (enthusiasts and reseller channel), investors may have been hoping for greater price cuts at the low end.
Rumors of new Apple desktop computers were first reported at AppleInsider.
Apple touted its new MacBooks unveiled on Tuesday as the "industry's greenest notebooks," and on reduction of toxic chemicals they may be. But environmental groups point to greenhouse gas emissions and recycling as areas where more needs to be done.
The notebooks do seem to lead the industry in the elimination of toxic chemicals by having a Mercury-free LCD display, arsenic-free display glass, Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-free internal cables and components, and being free of brominated flame retardant (BFR), according to the Apple news release.
"This is greener than what Apple has been putting out," said Casey Harrell, toxics campaigner for Greenpeace International. "It's welcome news and it is also in line with their commitment to phase out all PVC and BFRs from all their products by the end of the year."
Steve Jobs goes through an environmental checklist for the MacBook Pro.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)"The elimination of BFR in the notebooks is definitely a bar raiser for the industry," he said. Other notebook makers have made similar commitments on PVC and BFR and "are making baby steps," he added.
In its "2008 Environmental Update" released Tuesday and signed by Chief Executive Steve Jobs, the company says it is removing all forms of bromine and chlorine from the product line, not just PVC and BFTs, and is in the final stages of certifying PVC-free power cables.
Along with the latest release, the pledges to remove Mercury from displays and arsenic from display glass, the release of an arsenic- and Mercury-free MacBook Air, BFR- and PVC-free iPods, and Mercury-free iPhone 3G display, "Apple's new product designs are on track to meet our 2008 year-end goal," the Update said.
Another criteria for green-ness is recyclability. The newest MacBooks also have a "highly" recyclable aluminum and glass enclosure.
"Sounds like Apple has made some significant steps since we first looked at their iPod several years ago" and its non-replaceable battery, said Sheila Davis, executive director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. "It will be interesting to see how recyclable it is. Are they willing to have a more aggressive takeback program?"
Apple says its takeback programs are expanding, with its recycling volume growing 57 percent in 2007, and the recycling rate reaching 18.4 percent of sales, according to the Environmental Update. Apple provides takeback options for customers in 95 percent of the countries where its products are sold; offers free recycling of any manufacturer's computer or monitor if it is replaced with an Apple product, takes back any make or model of cell phone and does not ship waste from its U.S. recycling program outside North America and processes products in the country or region in which they are collected, Apple's recycling Web page says.
With Al Gore being on Apple's board you'd expect the company to take the lead on policies affecting the climate crisis. But that isn't necessarily the case, according to Wood Turner, director of Climate Counts, a nonprofit that ranks companies based on their commitment to addressing climate change. The group gave Apple low marks for corporate climate leadership earlier this year.
The progress on reducing toxics "is heartening and demonstrates that Apple is on the right track," he said. "But we'd like to see that same commitment to addressing global climate change." Apple should set goals and targets to reduce the ecological impact caused by the production and distribution of its products, he added.
Apple is now offering environmental reports for its products that provide details on all ecological aspects, including measurement of emissions produced at each stage of a product's lifecycle. For instance, a pie chart for the new MacBook shows that manufacture of the product accounts for half of the total 460 kg of greenhouse gas emissions. But no goals are listed.
The MacBook has new efficient packaging using corrugate cardboard made from 25 percent recycled material. And the notebooks also meet Energy Star 4.0, EPEAT Gold and Restriction of Hazardous Substances environmental standards.
Standards and percentages aside, Apple has done an excellent job marketing itself as a leader in green practices. A report released last week shows that nearly one-third of Internet users view Apple as the most environmentally friendly brand, compared with Dell at 21 percent and Hewlett-Packard at 15 percent.
That's quite a shift from 2005 when Apple's recycling and other environmental policies prompted protests outside the company's annual meeting.
A Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics Report released in September ranked Apple 13th, with a point score of 4.1 out of 10. Dragging Apple down was its recycling rate, but that rate has nearly doubled since 2006.
"There are many people in the environmental movement who have been highly critical of Apple. They have complained that Apple has not been as progressive with its environmental movement as it has been with its marketing," said Bruce Olszewski, an environmental studies professor at San Jose State University who runs a recycling information center. "So this is really a positive step Apple has taken."
For complete coverage of the Apple notebook news, see "Apple polishes up its MacBook line."
Apple has taken a shine to using solar cells in its mobile devices.
A patent application, unearthered by MacRumors.com, describes technology to integrate solar cells into portable devices. The named inventors of the patent application are Apple employees, some of whom are iPod engineers.
Images from an Apple patent for solar cells in portable devices.
(Credit: U.S. Patent & Trademark Office)Using small solar panels to charge portable devices is nothing new; there are several such products already available. Apple appears to be trying to innovate in the integration of the solar cells into a portable device.
Rather than make a separate charger, Apple engineers have sought to package solar cells right into the device in an unobtrusive way. Electricity-generating cells could be placed underneath the device's display. Specifically, the patent application details the use of a semitransparent display with a solar cell placed underneath it.
Sandwiched together, the device's cover would have "at least one glass layer coupled to the solar-cell layer; and a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) layer coupled electrically and mechanically to the solar-cell layer," according to the patent application.
This integrated design would allow the mobile device, be it a PDA or portable music player, to be charged from daylight without having a separate solar panel that needs to be plugged into it.
In a patent application, Apple engineers envision a solar panel integrated into a portable electronic device.
(Credit: U.S. Patent & Trademark Office)The patent application also describes using multiple solar cells coupled to specific electrical components within a device, including the data-processing system and the memory.
Drawings from the patent application show ways that a solar cell could be placed on the back cover of a device.
Electricity generated from the cells would be fed to the device's rechargeable battery.
In an older patent, Motorola sought to build a display that would allow enough light in to reach solar cells that charge a device. Its display calls for "organic light-emitting diode displays, and touch-sensitive displays are stacked with one or more solar cells."
Having a solar cell integrated into a display or cover makes the device more likely to absorb light than if the panel is placed on the back.
More significant, though, are the attempts by Apple and Morotola to package a solar cell into a device.
Separate solar chargers can be small, but they add to the number of items consumers must carry around. Also, many solar chargers are essentially just small solar panels without the ability to store electricity for later.
What remains to be seen is how much power an integrated cell, hid behind a display, can generate. This is dependent, of course, on the availability of light. But most likely, any solar-powered iPod or iPhone would include an AC adapter for standard charging.
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