dW

A Greener Apple

Steve Jobs released his second open letter last Wednesday entitled, “A Greener Apple”. I’ve always been interested in Apple’s take on being a greener company since Greenpeace have been famously targetting Apple for its supposed less-than-optimal environmental policy. They haven’t targeted any computer company but Apple and have given Apple a lower rating than other companies through their lackluster research methods. Their research methods typically amount to picking a company they don’t like, giving them a lower score, and the moving on to someone else. The numbers might be determined by dice rolling. It has that sort of randomness. Now, they actually believe their years of protesting have made Apple turn the other cheek.

Steve, six days ago, stated a long and detailed letter to the contrary giving proof and showing that Apple is in fact probably the most environmentally friendly electronics company (not just computer). In one case they’re TWELVE years ahead of their competitors. Steve cares about the environment; he just doesn’t care for eco-terrorists. I do agree with Greenpeace thinking it is about time Apple has released their environmental policy to the world. It was clear if you ever bought an Apple product that they did care about the environment by the materials they used in the box’s packaging.

Apple’s not perfect in its transition to being a more eco-friendly company, but they are well ahead of the curve. They were the first company to offer a recycling program for their products in 1994. I do have some problems with their recycling program, however, and it started when I needed to get rid of my old ACD almost two weeks ago.

Apple’s policy on returning your old electronics to them for recycling is explained here, and I’ll focus on a list about their recycling programs:

• For customers in the United States, Apple offers a free recycling program of old computers and monitors with the purchase of a new Mac.
• A free iPod recycling program, conducted through Apple’s retail stores, offers environmentally friendly disposal and a 10% discount on the purchase of a new iPod.

[…]

Apple’s recycling partnership with the city of Cupertino, California has recycled more than 340 tons of electronics. All electronics products are accepted free of charge, regardless of manufacturer.

[…]

What this amounts to is that to recycle anything I have to live close to an Apple store, live in or near Cupertino California, or buy a new Mac. Bullshit. I don’t live near Cupertino and the nearest Apple Store is exactly 341 miles from where I live. If you go to the U.S. & Canada recycling page you will notice that it states this:

US and Canadian customers who want to dispose of their used computers or monitors at any other time may also use Apple’s Recycling program by purchasing a prepaid shipping label and shipping your used computer or monitor to Apple’s recycling partner.

To recycle old equipment, just purchase a prepaid shipping label from the Electronic Recycling Program, or call 888-638-2761. The $30 (US) fee covers all costs associated with shipping used products to the Apple recycling vendor. Packaging materials are provided, if needed.

In other words if by not living near an Apple store or near Cupertino, California I have to pay to have it shipped. How is that going to deter people from just throwing their product into their garbage can? It won’t. Free to throw it in the garbage; thirty dollars to ship it to be recycled. I keep the boxes of any Apple product I purchase because it is beneficial to do so. All I have to do if I ever need to get them fixed is to put the product back into the box, get a shipping label from Apple, and ship it off. The box can be reused and reused over and over again for that purpose alone. That’s a type of recycling. That same packaging can be used as many times as I need. Why can’t they just provide a prepaid shipping label or a number to call to get one with every new Apple display? I could call the number, get a shipping label e-mailed to me, print the label out, and ship it out by FedEx at no charge to me. I’m sure they can afford the cost of shipping the product to their nearest recycling partner, especially when I paid $800 for the new display (and $1200 for the replaced one).

To some that might sound ridiculous, but when we replace toner for our large laser printer here at work it’s $150 and includes a prepaid UPS shipping label to use the box the new toner came in to ship the old toner cartridge off to get recycled. My question is:

Why cannot Apple do this for all their products?

I’m not contradicting what I stated before by criticizing Apple’s environmental policy on recycling. No other company provides services like this for all their products, but Apple as a innovative company can certainly do this. A program like this would cause Apple to reach its WRP goal of 20% by the end of 2008 a half-year to a year earlier.