While I am no apologist for Apple, I think that they will probably be more progressive on the Green front moving forward. It is now firmly on the agenda but unfortunately, the design of this iMac was probably started some time ago before the pressure in essence to go green gained momentum.

Totally sucks! I was really hoping they would do better than that.

These guys need to get on the bandwagon of global warming educators!

You don't need to be an apologist for Apple to be able to robustly defend their position on the environment.

If you had watched the Keynote you would know it is Energy Star 4 compliant; in fact Steve confirmed that Apple's entire range is now Energy Star 4 compliant, hence no need to distinguish which particular Energy Star level each product is compliant with on its website.

Furthermore, have you ever looked at an iMac? As Steve compared the iMac to a similarly specked desktop PC in the keynote it showed the significance of the difference in the amount of materials consumed to achieve the same end, greatly helping the environment.

In the last eight years I have not had to replace a single Apple computer that I installed in my first year as an IT consultant, I have had to replace all the PCs I installed that year.

Apple might not be making lofty promises for its environmental policy, earning the loathing of greenpeace, but who is to say it competitors will keep their promises?

Peter,

People like you and me can keep the companies to those promises.

Each company made a public commitment to phase out toxic chemicals, which is exactly why we created the action Goina liked to above allow people to tell each company that we are waiting for them to fulfil their commitments.

Yes they could break their public promise but that's not generally a good idea if the company wants the public and its customer to trust what they say.

Tom
Greenpeace

Hello all.

I think it's pretty easy to point at the iMac's flaws as well as those of Apple as a company, but let's be a little more objective.

1. The LED backlight displays have been added to the some of the notebooks, but the technology simply isn't there yet for the larger 20 and 24 inch displays. As far a I know Apple was the first to move from CRT to LCD, and again is leading the way with LED backlighting.

2. True, the new iMac is not 100% recyclable, but look how much plastic was eliminated. A vast improvement I think. Perhaps you can point to an example of a computer that is better in this regard??

3. They produce quality products that last which further cuts down on waste.

4. Their packaging is extremely efficient, again cutting waste as well emissions. (small packages = fewer truck loads.)

5. Though not having to do with the iMac directly, Apple has revolutionized digital music which eliminates countless CDs and DVDs from being produced and eventually winding up in land fills. (not to mention cases, packaging, etc... oh and no emissions on digital downloads)

6. You didn't look very hard for the environmental / recycling stuff on the Apple website. I typed "recycle iMac" as a search on Apple's home page. It linked me to the iMac tech spec page where it talks about recycling.

http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html

If you go further you will find that Apple will take back computers, phones, and music players REGARDLESS OF THE MANUFACTURER for FREE !!! Here's the link:

http://www.apple.com/environment/recycling/

It also states, "No waste from Apple’s U.S. recycling program is shipped outside North America. All recovered materials are processed domestically, with the exception of some commodity materials that can be recycled for future use."

So where did the "dumping in India or China" comment come from?

I think your article missed the mark!! Please, do your research and write responsibly. There are many people out there that assume you have done so and are not familiar enough with Apple or other technology companies to know otherwise.

I'm all for a greener computer and a greener world, and Apple seems to me to be leading the pack in many ways.

Shawn

China made products that proliferate our market today cause of a lot of damage to our environment and health. In the Philippines, specifically, stores around Metro Manila abound with very cheap toys, clothing, and other similar items all made in China. It is quite easy to see them. In fact, there are well-known locations and store that sell these items. I hope that someone would lead the campaign against imported goods that do not meet standards.

Dear Shawn
I'll try to answer to your points.

1. Since now the LED backlight display has been added to the 15-inch MacBook Pro only, launched last June. Unfortunately, Apple is not ahead of the competitors with is actual computer line. Sony, for example, launched the Vaio T serie with Led backlight one year before Apple. And the technology is still there for bigger screen too. Samsung has been selling a 30-inch display for months and Philips was producing a huge 120-inch display back in 2005.

2. I didn’t see the new iMac live yet, but from the web pages it looks like they replaced the front plastic frame with an Aluminium one (the big back part is still in plastic). Honestly I think that they didn’t eliminate a great quantity of plastic with this update. Anyway the bigger problem is that computer must get rid of the worst chemicals like the mercury in the lcd display, the heavy metals in the circuits, the PVC, the BFRs… Unfortunately no computer in the market can be honoured to be completely toxic free. We would love to see Apple in the front line for a Greener technology, but the new iMac is not the best just because it has the front in aluminium.

3. They do good products but how can you calculate the exact life span of their computers? I know, many Mac fans keep their old computers like religious devotees (I have an old Mac Classic from 1991), but they have new computer to work with. And, eventually, mostly of the old Macs end up in thrown away, and often end up dumped in Asia or Africa because that's cheaper than proper recycling and disposal.

4. Like above, reducing the normal waste is important for every company, but we want an electronic industry without the worst toxic chemicals.

5. This is very difficult to calculate. According to research from Understanding and Solutions, for example, the digital music industry is more polluted than the old one. You need to take in account all the blank cd/dvd sold to burn our music and the mp3 players necessary to really enjoy the digital music. The energy used to power huge numbers of servers needed for digital music probably isn't emissions free either. You can read a detailed report here.

6. I have read that page carefully, and as you can see Apple has a take back policy in USA only and not exporting waste Apple collects is good (but again US only). Why doesn't Apple have a global take back as other companies like Dell and Lenovo are already doing?

To look at Apple own figures - now they recycle 10 percent of what they sell. That leaves 90 percent of Apple products that are currently not being recycled by Apple. Of course not all of that is thrown away but when it is a large proportion of it does end up dumped in places like China – we've seen it in the e-waste yards.

That's why its vital Apple does two things to help – reduces the toxics in its products so they are less polluting when recycled, and make its US recycling and no waste export policy global.

Great to hear that you are for a greener computer. If you want to help us, you can start signing our challenge: Who will produce the first Greener computer?

Giona

Sir/Madam,

Where can I sell my old computers and cds here in Manila?

I want to be environment friendly.

thanks!