All of a sudden Greenpeace not cool among Apple fans

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 17 October 2007 04:13

Opinion and Analysis

Campaign against nuclear weapons testing, chase illegal whaling boats, lobby aginst big business polluting the environment - now that's cool. Point out that Apple Inc has toxic chemicals in its new star product and no recycling program for its batteries - now that's definitely not cool. Apparently so goes the thinking of many of the otherwise green Apple faithful.

In an update to the news that a Greenpeace report "Missed call: the iPhone's hazardous chemicals" which can be accessed from here , Apple boss Steve Jobs has posted a detailed essay addressing concerns about the company's environmental practices here .

In relation to hazardous chemicals such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) which Greenpeace found in the iPhone, Jobs states that Apple plans to Apple plans to completely eliminate the use of PVC and BFRs in its products by the end of 2008. What happens to iPhones sold between now and then, however, is left unsaid.

Also mentioned by Jobs is Apple's commitment to recycling all of its products including iPods in free take-back programs. However, not mentioned by Jobs is the soldered-in battery issue of iPhone which was singled out by Greenpeace as adding to the difficulty of the recycling process.

Reading comments of some of the normally pro-environment Apple faithful on sites like Wired , however, one may be forgiven for thinking that Greenpeace has committed a cardinal sin by daring to point out Apple is not quite as green as it claims with regard to iPhone.

All of a sudden some Apple loyalists (and we stress some not all) believe that Greenpeace sucks. Greenpeace is a bunch of hypocrites and bullies for daring to conduct a scientific test that exposes the untouchable Apple to what many would regard as legitimate criticism.

Yet in all probability Steve Jobs himself, unlike some of his company's fanboys, would take this criticism very seriously, which is part of the reason why he penned his statement. The other part is that it's simply good business these days to be green.

Whatever you may think of Greenpeace, facts are facts. Right now, according to scientific tests iPhones contain toxic chemicals and its non-removable batteries are difficult to recycle. Shooting the messenger is not the way to solve the problem.