Bittersweet: Green my Apple wins the Webby Award
Green my Apple has won the Webby Award for best activist site of the year. This means we need to figure out some way to divide the goofy springy award thingamawhatsit between all the Apple fans around the world who have donated their time, their creativity, their blogs, banners, ads, and t-shirt designs asking Apple to become the Green leader we know they can be.
The winners were chosen from nearly 8,000 entries from 60 different countries.
The judging panel consisted of: David Bowie, Harvey Weinstein, Matt Groening, Jamie Oliver, Internet co-inventor Vinton Cerf, RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser, The Body Shop president Anita Roddick, and R/GA CEO Bob Greenberg.
It's a victory that has a bittersweet taste, in that the Webby Awards celebrate a world made possible by the very electronics industry which our e-waste campaign is challenging, and which our Green my Apple project is but a part.
As the world buys more and more products with shorter and shorter lifespans with which to access the web, the mountains of e-waste in Asia and India grow larger. And until the worst of the toxic substances those computers, telephones, and other gadgets use are phased out, more and more people -- many of them children -- will endanger their health when they scavenge for parts and material.
So as we join the bragging parade of Webby Winners, we also take a moment to think about who bears the cost of our digital lifestyle, and how much we look forward to the day when we can buy our gadgets secure in the knowledge that they don't contain poisons, and that they'll be recycled responsibly. And we hope that the day comes soon when all of us who have advocated for that future can share in the button-popping pride that comes from winning not just an award, but a campaign.
Ask Steve Jobs to make Apple Green.
Follow Greenpeace »
Comments
Thanks for the informative article- I was dismayed to read earlier about Apple as I so desperately want an apple macbook for my work (though I do currently work on an hp)... But this cheers me, maybe with everyone's help Apple CAN do it. I'll start by following the link to ask Steve Jobs (above), and linking your blog off mine. OK mine doesn't get many readers... but every little bit counts. A a huge congratulations to "Green my Apple",go you good things!
Posted by: meg | May 2, 2007 2:40 AM
Congratulations everybody, keep up with the good work and eventually Apple will make the right steps.
Posted by: Gillo | May 2, 2007 1:26 PM
Well, just today, Apple published this "hot news item", signed by Steve Jobs:
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/agreenerapple/
Talk about Apple hearing you :)
Posted by: Josh | May 2, 2007 10:08 PM
So, explain to me, how does it work that you can win a Webby for copying the style of Apple's site and continuing a miss-guided campaign which Apple then sees you on by explaining how theyve been doing or had planned all this for years now?
Posted by: matthew | May 3, 2007 4:36 PM
It's about time to start designing greenmyDell.com and greenmyHP.com I bet that will take away more toxic waste in a year than all the history of Apple computers. Oh yes it wouldn't work because using HP or Dell website style wouldn't give you any award
Posted by: Roberto | May 19, 2007 1:11 AM
Hi Roberto,
We already targetted Dell and HP in the early part of this campaign. Like Apple has done now, they did the right thing. See the stories here:
HP Rises to Toxic Challenge
Dell promises Greener computers
--b
Posted by: Brianfit | May 21, 2007 5:51 PM
Congratulations...I saw the website, and agree its pretty well made.
About the copying thing, well it is a parody of the Apple website, which is what makes it a good activist website.
Not to nitpick or anything, but India is part of Asia, so "Asia and India" is wrong..
Posted by: addicted | July 31, 2007 6:28 PM
I think I recognized the image of the kid in the electronics trash from the movie "manufactured landscapes". It is a photo taken by Edward Burtynsky, more amazing pictures of the world's electronic trash to be found at: http://www.cowlesgallery.com/burtynsky/recycling.html
But please be fair and give credit to the photographer if you post his photos!
Posted by: Photy | October 18, 2007 3:34 PM
Hi Photy,
All the photos we used on the site are taken by our photographers. If you mean this picture:
Child in wire
That was taken by Natalie Behring on 8 March 2005.
Any photos we use that are not ours are credited as such.
tom
Posted by: Tom | October 19, 2007 4:20 PM