[Sosfbay-discuss] GreenPeace forces Apple's Hand: Jobs announces set of green initiatives

[JamBoi]

Cameron Spitzer and I spoke extensively to the GreenPeace employees
that are pressing this "Green My Apple" campaign and we in the Green
Party of Santa Clara are talking about participating together in a
coalitional action at the Apple stockholders meeting on May 10th.  Its
nice to see that whether or not we choose to do that action now, that
they've made a significant impact already.

Impeach for Peace!

Drew

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/tasty-apple-news-020507

Tasty news from Apple!
02 May 2007

Apple's site boasts "A Greener Apple" banner to announce a change in
policy.

International — We are cheering! Steve Jobs has decided to bring us
closer to the greener apple that Mac users all over the world have been
asking for.
Today we saw something we've all been waiting for: the words "A Greener
Apple" on the front page of Apple's site, with a message from Steve
Jobs saying "Today we're changing our policy."

It's not everything we asked for.  Apple has declared a phase out of
the worst chemicals in its product range, Brominated Fire Retardants
(BFRs) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) by 2008. That beats Dell and other
computer manufactures' pledge to phase them out by 2009. Way to go
Steve!

But 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.  That's a race worthy of the
wizards of Cupertino.

We've seen the enthusiasm with which Apple fans have greeted our
campaign to make Apple a green leader. They've made clear what they
want-- an Apple which isn't just skin-deep green, but green to the
core. One that creates products free from the most hazardous chemicals,
that they can buy and return with a clear conscience, secure in the
knowledge that Apple will re-use or recycle them responsibly, and that
won't end up in scrapyards or add to the mountains of e-waste that the
electronics industry has created.

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.

We look forward to working with the new, greener Apple in future –
toward the greening of the entire electronics industry.

And to all the Apple fans who have contributed their thoughts and blogs
and creativity to this campaign, reach over your shoulder and pat
yourself on the back. Put a happy tune on your ipod and do a happy
dance. You've proven you can make a real difference. You convinced one
of the world's most cutting edge companies to cut the toxic ingredients
out of the products they sell. 

Now, let's take it to the next level!  An Apple green to the core!

__________

http://weblog.greenpeace.org/makingwaves/archives/2007/04/upcoming_apple_annual_general.html
Put on the pressure: Apple AGM is coming up!

On May 10th, the Apple Annual General Meeting will take place at 1
Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California. Two environmental resolutions
filed by investors calling for Apple to improve their policies on
take-back and the use of hazardous chemicals have already been nixed by
the Apple board of directors. But that doesn't preclude the great,
wise, and good leadership of Apple taking their own measures to
improve. Apple didn't budge from last place in our recent Green
Electronics ranking, in which Chinese manufacturer Lenova leapt into
the lead.

The time is now, Apple fans! Let's turn up the pressure by hitting the
blogs, storming technorati, and getting the word out far and wide that
we want to hear about a new, green Apple on May 10th.

__________________

Job's statement:
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/agreenerapple/

__________________

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117814551181090044.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Apple CEO Unveils Set of Green Initiatives
By JIM CARLTON
May 3, 2007; Page B3

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple Inc.'s Steve Jobs, responding to sharp criticism
from environmentalists that his company isn't green enough, has
unveiled a set of initiatives that he said would put the company ahead
of rivals on recycling and other environmental issues.

The Apple chief executive officer posted an open letter on the Apple
Web site entitled "A Greener Apple," laying out for the first time
publicly the Cupertino, Calif. company's plans to make its products as
environmentally friendly as possible. "We apologize for leaving you in
the dark for this long," Mr. Jobs said in his letter.

Two of the biggest commitments address some of the main concerns of
Greenpeace and other environmental groups: that Apple phase out the use
of two toxic chemicals -- polyvinyl chloride and brominated flame
retardants --and ramp up its recycling of computers and other products.

Mr. Jobs said those chemicals would be eliminated from Apple's products
by the end of 2008, and that the company would expand world-wide an
existing program in the U.S. of customers being able to drop off their
old iPods at Apple retail stores and disposed of for free.

A corporate-accountability group called As You Sow has filed two
shareholder resolutions for vote at Apple's board meeting next week
seeking those kinds of actions. A spokeswoman for the group said it has
not decided whether to withdraw the resolutions.

Critics, who have hounded Apple for the past several years to do more
on the environmental front, credited their public pressure for Apple's
turnabout. "You're the consumers of Apple's product, and you've proven
you make a real difference," the environmental group Greenpeace said in
a statement posted on its U.S. Web site Wednesday.

Environmentalists have been asking Apple and other personal-computer
makers for years to clean up their act. They say millions of computers
with toxic ingredients end up being thrown in landfills without proper
recycling, and have been urging the manufacturers to do more to help.
After Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. made commitments to be greener,
activists about a year ago began picketing Apple and engaging in other
protests to get the computer maker to follow suit.

In his letter, Mr. Jobs acknowledged the criticism, but said much of it
was unfair because Apple has already done a lot to meet environmental
goals.

"Upon investigating Apple's current practices and progress towards
these goals, I was surprised to learn that in many cases Apple is ahead
of, or will soon be ahead of, most of its competitors in these areas,"
he wrote. "Whatever other improvements we need to make, it is certainly
clear that we have failed to communicate the things that we are doing
well."

Mr. Jobs added that Apple plans to provide updates at least annually on
its progress on the environment.

Write to Jim Carlton at jim.carlton at wsj.com

___________________

JamBoi: Jammy, The Sacred Cow Slayer
The Green Parties' #1 Blogger
http://dailyJam.blogspot.com

"To the brave belong all things"
Celt's invading Etrusca reply to nervous Romans around 400BC

"Live humbly, laugh often and love unconditionally" (anon)

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