Apple a Little Greener This Year

Greenpeace produces a guide every year that ranks and scores the major electronics manufacturing companies based upon their commitment to a healthier environment. You can read the full Greenpeace Guide HERE.

In the beginning years of Greenpiece's guide, the computer/iPod maker Apple scored a pathetic 2.5/10. Within a year Apple improved its score to 5.5. A few months later, that score went up to 6.7. This month, Apple tied with Sony, Ericsson, LGE, FSC, and HP with a score of 6.7. The highest scoring companies were Toshiba and Samsung.

How did Apple improve its numbers? It started by promising to eliminate the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated fire retardants (BFR) from the materials in its computers by 2008. These two toxic ingredients are hard on the environment in production and disposal. So far, Apple has nearly cut out usage of PVC and BFR, they haven't reached their goal of total elimination quite yet.

In addition, the introduction of the MacBook Air in January took Apple in a new ecological direction by completely eliminating mercury and arsenic from the laptop's parts.

Apple has also greatly expanded its recycling program and now accepts cell phones and iPods for free recycling.

Obviously there are several things Apple can do to improve its score even more on the Greenpeace Guide. In the meantime, at least they are showing a genuine interest in making positive changes.