Thursday, May 03, 2007

Apple put a banner with the words "A Greener Apple" on the front page of its website, linking to a personal letter from Steve Jobs. In it he says in effect that Apple's consumers, employees, shareholders and the industry "want us to be a leader in [becoming greener], just as we are in the other areas of our business. So today we're changing our policy." That's right, people: you've done it -- you've moved Apple.

However, it's not everything we asked for. While customers in the US will be able to return their Apple products for recycling knowing that their gear won't end up in the e-waste mountains of Asia and India, Apple isn't making that promise to anyone but customers in the USA. Elsewhere in the world, an Apple product today can still be tomorrow's e-waste. Other manufacturers offer worldwide takeback and recycling. Apple should too!

Apple hasn't gotten an actual green product to market, but no other electronics manufacture has either.

Apple must begin to address these growing problems to ensure that the workers and children of Asia and many developing nations no longer face the unnecessary environmental and health dangers posed by the high-tech industry's waste.

Our work isn't over until Apple users get that.

Labels: Apple, Science