Apple Is Greener Than You Think

Apple has been taking flak about its environmental policies for the last year, with the chorus rising every time Greenpeace released another Green Electronics Guide and placed the company at or near the bottom.

Yesterday Apple CEO Steve Jobs answered his critics with an open letter describing Apple's current environmental policies in some detail, as well as their targets for the future. There's a little hedging here and there -- I'm sure Apple didn't completely switch to LCD displays solely because of environmental concerns -- but overall, it's pretty good stuff, and remarkably clear.

Cynics might argue that, as with his "Thoughts on Music", Jobs is only posting this to stave off further criticism and is covering for shoddy practices. However, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here; when I started researching e-waste in Canada at the turn of the millennium, I discovered that it can be hard to get information on policies from companies. At least back then, the issue of electronic waste wasn't as much on the radar as it is now, and the companies that did have detailed information didn't always make it easily accessible. Greenpeace's data primarily came from the various companies' annual reports, so they very well could have missed the information that Jobs is now delivering.

One way or another, though, Greenpeace's Guide forced action, and when the next Guide is released the spotlight will swing to whoever is at the bottom of the list, which will hopefully compel them to clean up or fess up. Whatever Jobs's motive, the end result is all good.