User created design from the Green my Apple campaign.
Like everyone else we don't know what's in the iPhone yet. It
debutsJune 29th. But we already know how green a phone can be.
Nokia, SonyEricsson, and Motorola have both removed some of the
worst chemicalsfrom their phones and identified extra toxic
chemicals they intend toremove in the future -- even beyond the
minimal legal requirements.
Nokia and Sony Ericsson have a global take-back policy for their
phonesand accept their responsibility to reuse and recycle the
phones theymanufacture. That saves resources and helps prevent old
phones endingup as e-waste dumped in Asia.
Update:
So the iPhone is out. Not a singleword from Apple about any
green features. Nothing about reducing toxicchemicals or
encouraging recycling for old phones dumped for theiPhone. Maybe
it's just another case of Apple 'failing to communicate'its
environmental priority? What is for sure is the iPhone appears
farbehind greener phones from Nokia and Sony Ericsson. That's a
missedopportunity for Steve to prove his commitment to a
"Greener Apple" andbad news for the planet. (We'll be
investigating further so stay tuned).
"There's already phones that do this"
Due to our
successful Green my Apple campaign Steve claimed: "Apple
isahead of, or will soon be ahead of, most of its competitors"
onenvironmental issues. This is Apple's chance to prove it.
To be only asgood as Nokia and Sony
Ericsson, Apple should:
- Not use toxic chemicals like brominated flame retardants and
Polyvinyl Chloride in the iPhone.
- Offer for free worldwide take-back for the iPhone.
Analysts are projecting between 4 to 10 million iPhones will be
sold inthe first year. This is a big chance for Apple to avoid the
useof a lot of toxic chemicals. And how soon will those 4 to 10
millioniPhones be made obsolete by Apple's next big innovation?
Becausemillions of them will be cast aside as old gadgets when the
latestarrives. Will Apple offer global options to prevent them from
becominge-waste?
Some might point out that the iPhone has already been made and
shippedso it's too late to make any changes. But Apple uses the
same supplier (Foxconn)as Nokia for parts of its iPhone. So
theoretically Apple could havespecified parts free of the worst
toxic chemicals from a supplieralready meeting Nokia's strict
chemicals requirements.
Carbon calling
What will Apple do to address the extra energy iPhones will
consume?Nokia and
Motorola are focussing on making their phone chargers
moreefficient; Nokia is developing user warnings to unplug when the
phoneis charged.
Will the iPhone have a user replaceable battery, to prevent
iPhones with broken batteries become premature e-waste?
Dell vs Apple: Eco-Rumble in the Electronics Jungle
If Steve was serious that Apple was already making
environmentconsiderations a priority then the iPhone launch will be
the firstchance to prove it with a greener product. With Steve and
Michael Dellseemingly
publicly slugging it out for the title of greenest
computercompany, maybe Steve will land the next green blow by
launching a phoneeven greener than those currently on the market.
This is hischance to demonstrate a major Apple product that has
been designed withenvironmental concerns as a priority.
There's a lot of people expecting
nothing less from Steve.
Take action
Challenge the major computer makers to see who will be the first to match their promises by putting a less toxic computer on the market.
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