[img_assist|nid=547|title=GreenPeace's Apple Must|desc=Green My Apple Campaign|link=none|align=left|width=150|height=82]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 with GreenPeace and Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition 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. (more below the fold)...

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. [img_assist|nid=549|title=A Greener Apple|desc=Apple tries to Greenwash its image. But hey its progress.|link=none|align=left|width=150|height=100]

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!

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http://weblog.greenpeace.org/makingwaves/archives/2007/04/upcoming_apple...
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_w...

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@wsj.com

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