We launched our campaign to reduce electronic waste in 2004, with the aim to remove the worst toxic substances from electronic products,improve recycling policies, and to catalyze a fundamental change in theway our electronic gadgets are designed, produced, and recycled.

Send a message challenging the industry to change.

In 2006, we published a ranking guide to put pressure on individual companies to improve policies and practices.

Companieslike Dell and Lenovo responded to the pressure, commiting to phase outs ofthe worst toxic substances from their product ranges, and in the caseof Dell, challenging the entire computer industry to adopt a worldwidefree take-back policy, as Dell had done.

In late 2006, it becameclear that the company which had been least responsive and fallingfurther and further back in the rankings was, surprisingly, Apple.

Apple fans

Inconsidering how we might win improved policies from Apple, we knew one thingfor certain: Apple might tune out Greenpeace, but they would never tuneout their customers. Apple's famously loyal fan base was the one forceon the planet that was guaranteed to get the attention of Apple CEOSteve Jobs.

So we decided this was to be a very differentGreenpeace campaign, one in which we would turn over the reigns to Apple'scustomers. We would stand in the shoes of Apple fans, we would speak asfellow believers in the wizards of Cupertino, and we'd try to channelwaves of Apple Love at corporate headquarters.

The result was the launch of the Green my Apple website in September 2006, the first words of which were, "We love Apple."

The site was designed to look like Apple's own site, with in-jokes that only Apple fans would get, and a single unifying theme:

"We love our Macs. We just wish they came in green."

Itwas designed, written and promoted as a place where Apple fansinterested in a greener Apple could learn about the call for Apple tobe a green leader and, crucially, show their support in many different ways.

Ifyou only had a minute you could email Steve (Just "Steve." Apple fansare all on a first name basis with Apple's CEO) and you couldrecommend the Green my Apple site to social networking services likeDigg, Hugg, and del.icio.us with a single click.

If you had more time, you could blog about the campaign, and your blog entry, whether positive or negative, would become part of the content of the site itself due to the magic of Technorati and RSS feeds.

And for those with creative talent there were "ProCreation" challenges for people to create poster and t-shirt designs.

In the begining

At the start of the Green my Apple campaign, we made it clear what we wanted:

In afirst for Greenpeace, we gave away some of our images and videos undercreative commons licenses for people to remix and mash up and post on the sites 'ProCreations' page. What cameback was high quality, amusing and wonderful work.

Bloggersmade and shared their own blog buttons quicker than we could respond toa request for them. Some people made online merchandise to promote thecampaign before we'd even thought of it.

Take off

Infact from the day of the launch, interest in the site was massive (theresilience of our servers had never been so thoroughly tested!) andsoon the ProCreations were flowing in. Apple chose not to comment;perhaps hoping their fans would come to their defence.

But thedifference this time was that Apple wasn't being attacked, Apple fanswere asking their favourite company to be greener. In fact we weregetting so many designs in the first few weeks we had to make theprocess to put them up much faster.

These are some of the best ones submitted:

Not content to remain online we took the green my apple message to MacExpo in London to talk to Mac fans in person.

The majority of people we talked to were supportive of a greener Apple.

Unfortunately the MacExpo organisers and Apple were not so keen on a greener Apple message and closed our stall at the venue.

Online many Mac users were writing and blogging about the campaign from magazine writers to marketing and advertising executives; even Mac media encouraged people to support a greener Apple:

In-store appearances

Thegreen my apple team also visited Apple stores in London, Amsterdam,Austin (Texas), and New York to spread the Green my Apple work and have a bit offun by sending a message to Steve direct from the Apple store.

Defaultwallpapers and homepages on showroom computers were subverted withGreen my Apple messages. People were making their own videos for thecampaign and even creating and selling their own Green my Applet-shirts online.

But we still needed an easy way for Apple fans to do more to show their support. So in November we launched the hug your Mac action,in which Mac users could download a desktop picture and declare theirlove of their Mac, and their wish that it came in green.

Soon all sorts of images of green Mac love were being posted on the popular photo-sharing site, Flickr. On the global mapa spread of pictures appeared with photos spanning the globe from theDomincan Republic to London, Dubai to New York, Paris to Hong Kong.

Thenext big Apple event was Macworld in San Francisco. We created analternative keynote speech (using Quicktime) in which Steve announcedthe phase out of dangerous chemicals, a worldwide take-back policy, anda green iPod.

Spoof Steve

It was an instant hit on YouTube and by the day of Steve's real keynote speech, the spoof video had been viewed over 100,000 times.

In February we heard the first gossip that Steve was considering aresponse, and that he might be thinking of sending a little green loveback, appropriately enough on Valentine's Day. Despite the fact thatmore designs and hug pictures were appearing online, Apple continuedto publicly deny it planned any changes.

We knew that Appleusually makes policy announcements just before its annual generalmeeting in May. Our US office organised student campus groups to holdGreen my Apple days on campus which resulted in over 1000 green Apple photo messages for Steve.

Students from three continents contacted us about running Green my Apple projects. Meanwhile there were increasing questionsabout how Apple would respond to two shareholder resolutions callingfor Apple to phase out toxic chemicals and improve its recycling policy.

Awards

Thegreat work being posted on the website, which had already generatedmany blog comments, started to get more formal recognition. The sitewas nominated for best non-profit site at the SXSW web awards.

It then won a Webby award as best activist site of the year.

Before we'd finished the champagne, though, that same week we saw something we'd really been waiting for:

A familiar-looking green apple appeared on the Apple website with avery familiar heading "A Greener Apple," linking to an open letter fromSteve Jobs declaring a change in policy.

While it was not everything that we had hoped for from Apple, it was good news.

Stevestepped up to be clearer about Apple's environmental policies. Hedeclared a phase out of the worst chemicals in its product range,Brominated Fire Retardants (BFRs) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) by 2008.He promised more transparency.

While falling short of announcing a global take back policy, Apple did pledge to increase its recycling rate in the future.

But apart from the details, it was clear that Steve had got the green Apple message loud and clear:

GivenSteve's reputation for secrecy and single mindedness it's a massiveachievement to see him echoing what so many people called for - Appleas a green leader.

But that statement is just the first stepbeing a green leader - to help ensure Steve doesn't forget who askedhim for a green Apple we've made him a nice reminder (just in case hehasn't had time to check all the ProCreations!) Using Apple software wecreated and delivered this book of the best of Green my Apple direct toSteve. View the book:

This how we delivered it direct to Steve with the help of Apple of course!

The next challenge

ClearlySteve got the message, so we have archived our Green my Apple websiteand issued a challenge to all the major computer makers to see who willbe the first to match their promises by putting a less toxic computeron the market.

Send your message to ask which company will rise to this challenge.

We'll continue to monitor company commitmentsand actions on our Greener Electronics Guide every 3 months to ensurephase out schedules and actions are kept. But we're also confident thatApple will keep its promise -- because it made that promise not toGreenpeace, but to its customers.

Hopefully Steve will make a start by announcing green features of the iPhone when it is launched soon?

Harnessing the power of customers

This campaign was a lesson in people power. It's not every daythat the CEO of a Fortune 500 company responds to a campaign demand onthe front page of his website.

Yet over the past few years,we've found that campaigns which harness the power of customers arebecoming increasingly effective in moving corporate policy towardbetter green policies.

Online activism has turned Coca Cola from a climate-killer to an innovator in refrigeration technologies. McDonald's went from a destroyer of the rainforest to the champion of a moratorium on new soy plantations in the Amazon.

Asnew web tools enable more creative online activism, more socialnetworking, more global campaigns, and more collaboration fromaudiences made up of customers and consumers, the global onlinecommunity is becoming an increasingly powerful force for change.

We'reall a part of the "Second Superpower" of public opinion, and the Greenmy Apple campaign is but one example of how solutions to planetaryproblems can be won. All it takes, sometimes, is people speaking up.

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