Huh? Greenpeace calls the MacBook Air "a winner"
By Thomas Ricker 
posted January 18th 2008 7:52AM
posted January 18th 2008 7:52AM
Apple and Greenpeace haven't exactly been the best of buds. However, MacWorld seems to have changed all that, at least for Greenpeace. In a statement issued on their US website, Greenpeace says the following:"The MacBook Air is a strong entry in the race to build a green PC. As a mercury and arsenic free laptop it exceeds European Standards (RoHS directive exemptions) and raises the bar for the rest of the industry."
Sure, the Greenies still had their nits to pick with the use of PVC and BFRs. Nevertheless, they did give a nod of approval in noting their reduced usage. Had Greenpeace's statement not been laced with condescending phrases like, "It's a big step for Steve," the whole week might have ended with some herb being passed around the Kumbaya circle -- 'ere 'ippie, gimme a 'ug.
[Via Macworld]
the crappy thing is a lot of mac toting trendy people do. "steve jobs and greenpeace love this thing and i have one to so im going to put a halo over my own head and pretend I'm more important than everyone else"
@MARKSHAK
I love Apple products, but would I listen to Greenpeace? Hell no. Bunch of crazed lunatics who want to do good but end up making the public dislike them and their cause.
kizor, read your post again and think about who you've described.
@Kizorblade:
Sounds a lot like mac zealots.... except maybe Mac zealots don't really have the intent of doing good?
Well, at least the MacBook Air doesn't threaten the health of whales, like the US Navy allegedly does. I guess Greenpeace can dig that.
Greenpeace is to environmentalism as the "Minute Men" are to anti-immigration. I'm an environmentalist, and they piss me off.
Doesn't Greenpeace also not let cut hair to go down the drain because it'd get into the throats of ducks or something? Ooh duckie, getting into Megan Fox's pubes. How can you be so lucky...
lol... Greenpeace didn't take into account the price of the laptop. I think this should be factored into account when calling an item "a winner". After all, you could be saving the extra money if you bought a cheaper laptop to plant a tree or something.
My fishing lure contain more lead that a thousand of notebooks, and i don't see any greenpeace bitch'n me about this.
If Greenpeace cared for the environment more, and less about fundraising, they would be taking Dell and HP to task. It's flattering they think smacking Apple undeservedly with a stick get their misdirected point across. To me it means the opposite. You try to what's right in a reasonable way so that you don't go out of business, and Greenpeace treats you like some fool who doesn't get what existence is about. Way to motivate companies to ignore the environment Greenpeace!
They have no credibility. I care about the environment. But I believe in action, not making misdirected accusations to raise money.
I wonder if Greenpeace took into account the 18-month to 2-year lifespan of the laptop? I mean, sealing the battery and other components inside means that it's just as disposable as the iPod. I don't care how nice your design is, Li-Poly batteries lose a lot of battery capacity after 2 years. After three they're nearly unusable.
Apple - leading the way in disposable electronics. If you can afford to throw away your phone, music player, and laptop every 2 years, you are clearly wealthy enough not to have to care about the ACTUAL environmental impact of your life. Go pat yourself on the back and get back in your feel-good Prius with it's toxic, 6-year batteries."
Now I just hope Greenpeace apologizes to Nintendo after calling their Wii "the worst product on the greenness scale" when actually Nintendo has done a lot of effort in recycling and reducing mercury, arsenic, and lead from their products, as per that statement Nintendo mailed to some Engadget reader a month ago.
It's always good read the uber-ignorant remarks from the high school kiddies re: Greenpeace. Sounds like they listened to their "stuck in the 80's" mba cog-in-the-machine parents religiously. I can't otherwise explain the high levels of hatred and ass-naked ignorance co-existing in such harmony. Surely nobody can be THAT naturally stupid?
Kudos to Greenpeace for raising these issues. Kudos to Apple for making real progress. Incremental changes DO add up. Don't fear change my tech/enviro luddites. Our planet can use all the help it can get.
@Eric: you'd have to read to find out more. I know, terrible imposition. Here ... let me give you a hand: from their last full review/comparison in 2007: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/how-the-companies-line-up. Sorry they liked Dell better at that point. So terribly sorry. But hey, they positively laid into Sony. Of course, you'd have actually READ the separate PDF's to find out EXACTLY what they're talking about ... so you might want to pass.
Personally, I believe in people actually knowing something about what they're talking about.
Yeah, I'm pro-environment, but anti-Greenpeace. I think Greenpeace needs a good PR agecy, cause a lot of us who want to help the environment are put off by their over the top zealousness.
Agreed with a previous comment about how very few "check" with Greenpeace before they buy a computer.
Still don't understand some people's perception that Mac User = Hippie or that Eco-conscious = Hippie. That's a very shallow cognition.