apple news/media reports

04/27/2007, 2:20pm, EDT

Friday, April 27th

Apple investors urge company to go green

An investment group is planning to use Apple's forthcoming shareholder's meeting to make a move toward greener products, according to one report from AppleInsider. Trillium Asset Management is calling on Apple shareholders to support a motion that would require the company to produce a solid schedule for doing away with toxic materials in its hardware products. "Consumers have grown to expect more from Apple, a leader in product design and innovation," said Trillium vice president Shelley Alpern. "Are we falling behind in the arena of greening our products?" The shareholder coalition answered a definite 'yes' to the question of whether Apple is moving slowly to a greener future, as well as producing an example for rival companies. The firm also expressed its desire to see Apple meet or beat arch-rival Dell's current environmental friendliness, which has promised to do away with BFRs and PVC plastic from its computers by 2009.

"The timetable is a number one goal, and something on par with or hopefully better than Dell would be preferred," a Trillium spokesperson said. "But we'd also like to see [Apple] making a broader commitment to getting out of the use of persistent and bioaccumulative toxic chemicals."

The Cupertino-based company has repeatedly come under fire from Greenpeace activists who continue to push for a "greener Apple." The environmental group ranked Apple last in its 'Guide to Greener Electronics,' which followed the company's low score on a Greenpeace environmental report card that detailed the use of toxic chemicals.

Greenpeace even protested Apple by 'greening' the company's flagship Fifth Ave. Store in New York, shining green flood lights into the store's famous glass cube at street level. Activists later projected large images on the wall of Apple's San Francisco store of Asian scrap yards where many electronic products end up when they are finally discarded.

"Apple is a leader in creative thinking and design, and we are encouraging them to expand that innovative know-how to making all of their products green," Greenpeace USA's Toxics campaign Legislative Director Rick Hind said in January.


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The time has come
0
04/27, 2:26pm, EDT
I agree, they need to go green.
Mac Enthusiast
Joined Sep 2000
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Green
0
04/27, 2:56pm, EDT
As an investor I want them to be smart, but I don't want them lose money just to appease Greenpeace! One thing Apple does better than any other company is make their products last so they don't end up in a landfill in 3 years like many PC's do.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Jul 2004
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re: green
0
04/27, 3:27pm, EDT
Couldnt have said it better myself!
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Feb 2004
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re:green
0
04/27, 3:27pm, EDT
Theres a point worth mentioning.

Every Apple product I have purchased, still has a home within mine (including the original packaging). The same can not be said for my PC components from years of building computers.

If Apples product continue to be built and designed with quality first, I say they have already won in the "green" department. 1 "less green" Apple > 5 "green" Dells in the landfill (in my opinion).
JEB
re: guest re: green
0
04/27, 4:11pm, EDT
I agree, guest...

Green can mean a lot of things. Harmful chemicals, no doubt important to address, my question is this: With Apple's low, low tiny 0.00002 one-trillionth of a percent marketshare, are they *proportionately* out-polluting other companies?

In fact, my take, like guest's: hundreds of millions of PCs, produced as throwaways (planned obselescence), is WASTEFUL. How much extra fuel (CO2 emissions) to ship 2 boxes -- monitor + cpu .... the iMac and other all-in-one designs have also eliminated excess factory production of cables, brought down power consumption ...

To be human is to be wasteful; I hardly think Apple is the worst ... others have pointed out one fantastic point: people tend to use their Macs 2-3 times longer ...

While up to individual users: I also think the energy-settings for Macs have always been way better than a PCs, and I manage a small PC lab at work. It's just great that a Mac is so much more intuitive to use (like I need to convince anyone here on this 'board.)

Many folks have balked at Greenpeace ... while I respect their aims, I really, really, really wonder how good the comparisons of "greener" companies are? There's so much to consider. I am glad the discussion is going on, but (ehem, MacNN) the FUD seems fud-dy duddy to me....
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Joined May 2001
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JEB
re: guest re: green
0
04/27, 4:17pm, EDT
I agree, guest...

Green can mean a lot of things. Harmful chemicals, no doubt important to address, my question is this: With Apple's low, low tiny 0.00002 one-trillionth of a percent marketshare, are they *proportionately* out-polluting other companies?

In fact, my take, like guest's: hundreds of millions of PCs, produced as throwaways (planned obselescence), is WASTEFUL. How much extra fuel (CO2 emissions) to ship 2 boxes -- monitor + cpu .... the iMac and other all-in-one designs have also eliminated excess factory production of cables, brought down power consumption ...

To be human is to be wasteful; I hardly think Apple is the worst ... others have pointed out one fantastic point: people tend to use their Macs 2-3 times longer ...

While up to individual users: I also think the energy-settings for Macs have always been way better than a PCs, and I manage a small PC lab at work. It's just great that a Mac is so much more intuitive to use (like I need to convince anyone here on this 'board.)

Many folks have balked at Greenpeace ... while I respect their aims, I really, really, really wonder how good the comparisons of "greener" companies are? There's so much to consider. I am glad the discussion is going on, but (ehem, MacNN) the FUD seems fud-dy duddy to me....
Junior Member
Joined May 2001
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#1 goal...
0
04/27, 8:21pm, EDT
is a time table?!?! WTH. The #1 goal is the removal of toxic materials used in production, not a time table for when they will be removed. Time tables can and do change, even if they are public commitments.

The #1 goal of being more eco-conservative is to actually *do* something, not to announce that you will do something in the future.

How can this even be a debate? This is why no one takes Greenpeace seriously anymore...
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined May 2000
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in amost 20 years...
0
04/30, 9:47am, EDT
...of "playing" with computers, I have NEVER "thrown out" a Mac, but I've tossed a bunch of old PCs. Who's greener?

Z
Senior User
Joined Oct 1999
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One has to wonder
0
04/30, 10:15am, EDT
We have had several laptops from a different vendor with the new RoHS (Green) compliant motherboards. These boards are brittle and eventually crack when placed on docking stations. This has resulted in some of the machines having their system boards replaced, not once, but twice. One has to wonder if generating 3 RoHS compliant motherboards per machine ends up polluting the earth more than one regular motherboard would have done in the first place. Hopefully, this is just a fluke and not a sign of things to come.
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Trillium-take my proxy(s)
0
04/30, 11:43am, EDT
Do not be a fool. Greenpeace is greatly respected around the world. If you don't understand that, then you need to catch up, not them.

Apple is in the same position as China...not the largest in many categories, but expanding rapidly. Now is the time to make changes for the better, to make a commitment to get rid of the BFRs and PVC plastic. Say it and do it.

I have gone through dozens and maybe hundreds of Macs over the years with different companies. Regardless of whether they are used an extra few years longer than whatever strawman you want to compare them to, all but a few portables stacked up in yonder corner are in some landfill somewhere.

Think of all the post houses that will be changing this year because of the change to FCP and Adobe's new intel offerings. Think of the expanding corporate market and the thousands that are going to schools. Sure, the original iBooks can still crank a page or two, but most have been replacede. It is a lot of landfill and a lot of plastic, and gasous poisons being created...and there is a lot more to come.

I own and have held my stock in Apple because they are leaders. I will write these people and give them my stock's proxy to vote with.
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Joined Dec 1999
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