Greenpeace is again up to what it does best, intimidating businesses that don’t toe the Greenpeace line. This time they have Apple in their sights.
It appears that Apple is not the favourite computer company of enviromental terrorists Greenpeace despite the fact that a lot of greenies seem to prefer Apple computers over the common PC. Now Greenpeace is trying to “take the Piss” by launching a web site that looks exactly like the Apple web site. The big difference being that the messages are different.
Now Greenpeace is trying to “take the Piss” by launching a web site that looks exactly like the Apple web site. The big difference being that the messages are different.
Continuing their ‘Why must Apple sell poison’ campaign Greenpeace has launched a site that parodies Apple.com. While this is not a new idea it does smack of prejudice as they are not taking action against Dell, Lenova or the like of Motorola. Maybe they are doing it in the hope that Apple pay them off. Lets face it Greenpeace love raising money and there is no better way than jumping on a popular bandwagon. Right now Apple is hot so Greenpeace is having a go at them. Where was Greenpeace 5-6 years ago when the likes of IBM, HP, Acer and Toshiba were churning millions of PC’s every year. And why is it that Greenpeace are not standing outside Supermarkets demanding that food Companies implement their own recycling programs.
 |
It’s no secret that environmentalists have been unhappy with Apple for a long time despite their claims to be an eco-friendly company. This is the first time, though, that a big environmental group has gone out and ranked some of the major IT players, and Apple came in 11th out of the 14 companies rated. More disappointing than the ranking–somebody’s got to be last, right?–was Apple’s overall score: 2.7 out of ten. Companies were scored on a number of factors, from recycling programs, hazardous materials usage, and Apple according to Greenpeace came up wanting in just about everything.
Greenpeace claim that Apple has a lousy recycling program. They claim that Apple only accept consumer takebacks in five markets, and then only with purchase of a new Apple machine. They claim that Apple could change that policy tomorrow to accept any used Apple product for recycling, free of charge. In the grand scheme of things, it wouldn’t cost that much and it might keep some Lithium and Mercury-laden computers and batteries out of the trash. They could also start accepting any machines as trade-ins.
Bring in your old ThinkPad and leave it at the Apple Store when you walk out with your new MBP. They already do this for for corporate and education customers. Heck, if you’re a school they’ll even give you money for a trade-in on your old Dells. Why not at least offer to accept consumer equipment, and make a point of publicising the fact.
Greenpeace also claim that Apple also needs to make a public and transparent commitment to banning hazardous substances. They’ve said they’re committed to stopping the use of toxic PVC parts and Bromine Fire Retardant (BFR) coatings. Greenpeace point out that Nokia stopped using PVC in 2005 and will be BFR-free by 2007.
Greenpeace claim that the parts that go into a MacBook aren’t that different from the parts that go into a Nokia 770. There are more of them in the MB, but they’re not that different. The other thing most companies seem to be able to do that Apple can’t be bothered with is actually publishing a list of all the materials in their products. On that issue, transparency would itself be a huge step in the right direction.
And finally they claim that Apple need to stop passing the buck when it comes to their partners. They say that that Apple employees are environmentally conscious, and 1 Infinite Loop is a pretty green place. It’s time Apple starts holding its suppliers, contractors, and manufacturers to the same high standards.
There’s no reason the answer to “Who will be first to go green?” shouldn’t be “Apple.” And since they’ve got one of the smallest manufacturing operations of the companies surveyed and they already claim to be eco-friendly, it’ll actually be kind of sad if that isn’t the answer.
In their FAQ Greenpeace say, ‘No – this is not a campaign against Apple – it’s a campaign to change Apple for the better,’ and ‘Apple should be setting the trend for a green future.’ I just hope that Greenpeace isn’t targeting a sexy computer company (probably the only computer company on the planet that can be called sexy) to get attention. I’m sure they are just concerned for us all, and not hungry for masses of publicity so that they can raise more money for the Greenpeace coffers.
