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January 2008 - International — Every Macworld
brings something new to Mac lovers. This
year, Steve Jobs pulled out an interoffice
envelope, opened the flap and revealed the
new “MacBook Air” – the thinnest notebook
computer on the planet. For us though the
highlight of the show, was Steve talking
about the environment in his keynote speech
for the first time. It’s a big step for
Steve and we would like to congratulate
all the Apple fans who helped us with our
greenmyapple campaign… You made this happen!
Last May, Steve got
us excited when he finally answered the
50.000 mac fans who wrote to him and announced
that Apple would be going green. Steve’s
commitment was not everything we asked for
but it did include a commitment to the phase
out of the toxic chemicals Brominated Fire
Retardants (BFRs) and Polyvinyl Chloride
(PVC) by the end of 2008.
In June last year Apple
launched the iPhone. We had hoped that the
iPhone would be Apples’ first step towards
a green product but Steve missed the call,
but it seems that Steve has come back with
a winner at this years’ Mac World.
This time Steve is on
the right path for a green Apple. The MacBook
Air is a strong entry in the race to build
a green PC. As a mercury and arsenic free
laptop it exceeds European Standards (RoHS
directive exemptions) and raises the bar
for the rest of the industry. The BFR and
PVC free printed wiring on the motherboard
is a big step forward, but not a first.
Sony achieved that last November with the
Vaio notebook.
The MacBook Air has
less PVC and BFRs than other Mac computers,
but it is not entirely free from those hazardous
chemicals. Had it been it would have made
Apple an ecological leader.
With their product design
on the right track Apple needs to make environmental
leadership the theme of all its products
- old and new. That means green design as
standard right through the product line
and a real global commitment to take back
and recycling.
We can almost taste
that Green Apple, unfortunately it’s not
ripe yet.
