Do you think Apple is green enough? Or should the company do more to raise environmental consciousness? (Photo : Apple)
Apple may hold the crowns of world's "hippest" company and world's most valuable company, but its latest move is drawing fire from all ends of the spectrum. Apple has decided to remove 39 of its products from EPEAT, a U.S. government list of enviro-friendly products.
The move will mean that government agencies across the United States will no longer be able to purchase Apple products. EPEAT's website states that 95 percent of electronics purchases by federal agencies must be EPEAT compliant. The city of San Francisco has already stated that it will cease purchases of Apple products by municipal agencies.
Like Us on Facebook
Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet responded by telling the Loop, "Apple takes a comprehensive approach to measuring our environmental impact and all of our products meet the strictest energy efficiency standards backed by the US government, Energy Star 5.2. We also lead the industry by reporting each product's greenhouse gas emissions on our website, and Apple products are superior in other important environmental areas not measured by EPEAT, such as removal of toxic materials."
Apple clearly feels that it does not need to abide by government rules, and that its own internal regulations are more than enough. This would also allow their design team to not get bogged down by an environmental mindset.
A major component of EPEAT - which stands for Electronic Product Energy Assessment Tool - is that electronics can be broken down into its various parts and then recycled. Apple products are notorious for their difficulty to dissect, and things like non-replaceable batteries and non-upgradeable parts go against the very idea behind a device that is EPEAT compliant.
