Steve on a Greener Apple

Some environmentalists have been a bit down on Apple. Today, Steve responds to those criticisms, writing "[u]pon 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. Whatever other improvements we need to make, it is certainly clear that we have failed to communicate the things that we are doing well."

He writes that Apple has been removing toxic chemicals from products and promoting product recycling. Did you know that a typical CRT contains 3 pounds of lead? I didn't. Apple no longer sells them, having eliminated the use of CRT's in 2006.

Apple's eWaste program continues to grow. In 2006, Apple recycled just under 10% by weight of the products sold seven years earlier. This seems to be in line with Dell and HP's figures, each at about 10%.

Apple's 10% iPod trade-in discount will now expand to Apple stores worldwide. And Apple is exploring the overall carbon "footprint" of their products although some scientists controversially question the need for this particular approach.

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