August 5 - 11:00pm EDT   Scientists sent by Greenpeace to Ghana have recently found extreme cases of chemical contamination at two "e-waste" facilities.  Soil and water tests were conducted at two electronics scrap yards where various items such as broken computers, monitors, and televisions are shipped from the United States and Europe for processing and extraction of scrap metals.  Brands of these items included Philips, Sony, Microsoft, Nokia, Dell, Canon, and Siemens.  The two scrap yards were located in two cities: one in the capital city Accra and another in the city of Korforidua. [full story]

July 9 - 7:05pm EDT   Greenpeace is again calling Apple out on its environmental practices, citing that the iPhone 3G uses the same toxic building materials that it found in its breakdown of the original device. Casey Harrell, International Toxics Campaigner for Greenpeace, released a note on Wednesday saying he believes that, while the company has made large strides with reducing hazardous materials in its iMac and portable computers, the iPhone 3G remains largely unchanged. [full story]

June 25 - 12:20pm EDT   Apple has slipped in terms of environmental friendliness, claims Greenpeace. The activist group has published a new edition of its Guide to Greener Electronics, and whereas in the last rankings Apple jumped from 2.7 to 6.7 -- due to the release of the less toxic MacBook Air -- the company has since slipped to just 4.1, marking it as an offending company. [full story]

March 18 - 12:40pm EDT   Japan's Toshiba and Korea's Samsung are the most environmentally friendly of the major electronics manufacturers, claims Greenpeace. The activist group has published a new edition of its Guide to Greener Electronics, ranking producers of consumer electronics against each other in terms of factors like pollution and recycling. Toshiba has leaped ahead six positions to tie the previous leader, Samsung, due to continued improvement in areas of both recycling and electronic waste; Samsung's static ranking, meanwhile, is attributed to an "incomplete" product takeback policy. [full story]

January 17 - 7:15pm EST   Greenpeace today applauded Apple for the release of its new MacBook Air laptop, calling the device "a winner" and a strong entry in the race to build a green PC. The organization commends Apple's decision to ship a mercury and arsenic-free laptop, which Greenpeace says exceeds European Standards and raises the bar for the rest of the industry. Apple is on the right track, according to activists, and needs to make environmental leadership the theme of all of its products -- both old and new. [full story]

November 27 - 2:05pm EST   A combination of new entrants and shifts in corporate practices have shaken up the rankings for ecologically friendly electronics makers, according to the December 2007 Greenpeace guide to the technology industry. Apple has improved from its previously very low scores, moving from 12th to 11th place; this is largely due to the use of aluminum and glass for the new iMac as well as a reduction in toxic chemicals for many iPods. The company nonetheless needs to more explicitly outline which hazardous substances it continues to use and also needs to greatly expand its takeback policy for recycling obsolete hardware outside of the US, Greenpeace argues. [full story]