greenpeace

Having issued a middling report card to consumer electronics companies earlier this year, environmental watchdog Greenpeace is now targeting big IT companies which it says are not pulling their weight when it comes to tackling climate change.

With its Cool IT Challenge, Greenpeace on Wednesday created a scorecard for the CEOs of the largest IT companies that shows how they rate on climate leadership. Overall, Greenpeace doesn't look on them kindly.

It gives IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano relatively high marks for disclosing the company's emissions reduction targets and spearheading its "Smart Planet" initiative to make transportation and the utility industry more efficient through IT. Toshiba scored only 2 out of 100 because it needs to improve its emissions reductions and use of renewable energy, according to Greenpeace.

Greenpeace has kind words for Sun Microsystems for developing energy-efficient servers and undertaking a company-wide sustainable program. … Read more

A few years ago, Greenpeace singled out Apple when assessing companies for toxic waste. The clash now seems to be in the past, as Greenpeace has started using Apple's iPhone to spread its message on the importance of selecting the right toilet paper.

Greenpeace has launched an iPhone application version of its "Recycled Tissue and Toilet Paper Guide" that lets consumers compare brands available at their local grocery store to find which brands are most environmentally sustainable.

The app, developed by 3rdWhale, gives advice on a scale from "Recommended," "Avoid," or "They … Read more

Consumers are increasingly demanding better environmental attributes in their digital gadgets, but the consumer electronics industry can go a lot further to make gadgets "green."

Environmental watchdog Greenpeace held a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Friday to announce results of its second annual survey called "Green Electronics: the Search Continues."

The good news is that manufacturers are using fewer hazardous chemicals, such as PVC plastic, and are running more electronic take-back programs. Another positive trend is the use of LED screens for notebooks, which are relatively energy efficient and use … Read more

Greenpeace said that electronics manufacturers are making progress on reducing toxic materials and waste, but not making bold enough moves to cut energy usage.

The environmental watchdog on Monday published its 10th Guide to Greener Electronics, which it releases every three months. This edition adds five new criteria for energy, including whether manufacturers report usage, whether they purchase renewable power, and how efficient their products are.

Out of the pack, Nokia is on top, with Nintendo and Microsoft bringing up the rear.

If you're trying to impress people with your carbon footprint, you may not want to flaunt your phone unless it's made by Sony or Sony Ericsson. Those are the only electronics makers that scored above 5/10 in the latest edition of Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics.

The organization tried to explain why the 18 companies that were assessed seemed to rank so low on its scale (PDF). "Electronics giants pay attention to environmental performance on certain issues, while ignoring others that are just as important. Philips, for example, scores well on chemicals and energy criteria, … Read more

Nintendo is the least eco-friendly electronics maker, and Microsoft is barely better, according to Greenpeace. The environmental group rated the practices and designs of gadget makers lower than ever in its eighth quarterly report card (PDF).

Only two corporations scored above 5 out of 10 possible points in the report released Wednesday, down from 14 companies in March. Apple, for one, tumbled to 4.1 points in June after earning 6.7 in March more than a year after Steve Jobs' highly-publicized pledge to remove toxic ingredients from products and improve product takeback options.

Among the paltry few brands whose … Read more

Greenpeace might want to save the whales, but it's not above giving them silly names.

The legendary environmental organization, as part of its Great Whale Trail Expedition campaign, is tracking humpback whales in the South Pacific via satellite tags and hoping to gather data that will help protect them from hunting. To humanize the massive cetaceans a bit, Greenpeace International is also holding a whale-naming competition in the form of an online poll. It appears, looking at the site, that a number of "winning" names will go to the array of whales being tracked.

Among the 30 … Read more

How many naked people can you fit on a shrinking glacier? According to a report by Reuters, New York photographer Spencer Tunick plans to find out next month when he teams up with Greenpeace to shoot another in his long series of nude photos of large groups of people. Tunick will hold his shoot on a Swiss glacier the weekend of August 18 and is seeking volunteers for the Greenpeace shoot. The Reuters report says that volunteers can register at www.greenpeace.ch/tunickglacier, but when I checked it, that was a dead link. If you want to offer up … Read more