Is Apple Environmentally?

Adrian. · Dec 4th, 2007, 10:49 AM

Apple definitely promotes itself as a company that is with the times. Since the environment is on the tops of most peoples list, does Apple have a squeaky clean record as far as their disposal of computers etc. I know old cell phones to huge landfills in the Congo that destroy thousands of acres of jungle, that in turn is decimating the gorilla population. So does anyone have any info on this?

mcoltezo · Dec 4th, 2007, 11:12 AM

Hi Adrian,

sorry, no info on gorillas, though I hate to hear of their fate.....

as to the question of Apple and being environmentally friendly.....

.....hmm......all the computer technology I have has me hamstrung because ultimately computers contain toxic ingredients that have been mined somewhere and that certainly impacts the environment and usually the people who live near the mine site. The fact that 'new & improved' keeps coming out every 6 months or so and consequently perfectly good (working) computers (and other technologies) are tossed so as to get the latest and greatest, is unsettling. I must admit that I wonder at the constant replacing of technology. A great example is: records-->8 tracks-->cassette tapes-->cds-->mp3 players. What's going to be next? (it's certainly good for the economy....but what of our environment?.....I don't think my cassette tapes will compost.)

A huge problem is that the components contain such tiny amounts of toxic ingredients that are near to impossible to recover....but added up, amount to tons of the stuff......a big concern is also cell phones here in North America....there are so many that, as I understand it, the disposal industry can't keep up and many people don't seek out proper disposal anyway and just toss them. There is great concern about ground water contamination as a result of just these small devices alone going into landfills!

Back to Apple....I wish they'd recycle their systems more. My first impression of Mac when I was first looking at it for video work, was how great they are because of their longevity (I was able to buy a used 4 year old G4 to do what I needed at the time)....but that seems to have changed and partly because the programs that keep coming out need upgrades in hardware. I'd'a stayed with the G4 but I when I went to get the software so I had a legit copy of what was on the machine, I couldn't find it. The version that was available had to have a different OS which also required me to have a larger HD.

anyway....my thoughts......

PS I still appreciate the amazing ability of the mac for video work......like I said, I'm hamstrung.....but....trying not to 'need' anything more.

m