Apple has finally realised, no doubt under pressure from groups such as Greenpeace, that they need to take the environment seriously.This announcement (see below) from Greenpeace applauds the part of the Apple announcement that the new iPods will have arsenic-free glass, be brominated flame retardant-free, mercury-free and PVC-free.It is about time. Now they just have to address these issues, and more, across the rest of their range of products.Less toxic iPods rock
Yesterday Steve Jobs announced Apple new iPod line up. Here’s the bit that really got our attention about the new models:
- Arsenic-free glass
- Brominated flame retardant-free
- Mercury-free
- PVC-free.
It’s great to see Apple dropping toxic chemicals like PVC, BFRs and mercury in their latest products and a victory for everyone who supported our Green my Apple campaign. In May 2007 Steve Jobs stated that Apple would improve it’s environmental record by removing toxic chemicals by the end of 2008 and boosting recycling by 2010.While these iPods may rock what would really shake up the computer industry is if Apple sticks to it’s promise and becomes the first company to make personal computers free of toxic PVC and BFR’s. That would be truly groundbreaking announcement.To get a bit techie for a sec – it’s simpler to make small devices like phones, iPods etc without PVC and brominated flame retardants because they use less power (so generate less heat) and have few components. That’s why Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung have phones already free of these toxic chemicals but no company has yet cracked it for computers.Now what we’d really like for Christmas is to see Apple remove toxic chemicals from all it’s products, and announce a free, global recycling scheme. That would make a very tasty green Apple.We’re also keeping up the pressure on all the major electronic companies to remove toxic chemicals, improve recycling and be more climate friendly with our quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics. With several companies having committed to significant improvements at the end of 2008 or in 2009 it should be an interesting few months for green electronics.
weblog.greenpeace.org/makingwaves/archives/2008/09/less_toxic_ipods_rock.htmlGreenpeace gushes over latest iPods
Greenpeace is praising Apple over its cleaner iPods. The company said on Tuesday that it would be completely eliminating the use of PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in the upcoming line of iPod nano players.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2225818/greenpeace-gushes-latest-ipods