The Mac Sucks!

A while back, we discussed how Apple likes to market its products using “absolute” statements. For example, it talks about Mac OS X Leopard as “the world’s most advanced operating system“, iTunes as “the world’s most popular digital media player“, and the MacBook line as “the world’s greenest lineup of notebooks“. Their competitor Dell didn’t sit idly by and let Apple make that last claim without taking them to task.

Dell, which has been making what is described as “one of the most substantial efforts in the industry to produce more environmentally sound products and shrink its carbon footprint”, approached the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ National Advertising Division (NAD) to complain that Apple has no right to make such a bold statement. After examining the situation, the NAD claims that while Apple can legitimately claim that the MacBook line is greener than product lines from a specific competitor, their claim that the MacBook line is the “world’s greenest” has “potential for overstatement”. (This sounds like a nice way of saying “Come on, Apple, aren’t you exaggerating a bit? You’ve done some good work but don’t let it go to your head.”)

Later in the report, the NAD suggests that while Apple does have a very “green” product line, that it should adjust its advertising to make clearer that it’s comparing its products to a specific competitor or competitors, and it should avoid the reference to “world’s greenest” in the future. In typical Apple style, they interpreted this as a “clear victory” and thanked the NAD for “confirming that its MacBooks, as compared to all of the notebooks made by any given manufacturer, are the world’s greenest notebook computers”. Put more simply, Apple is going to go right on claiming its products are the “world’s greenest” even though the NAD has advised against making such a bold claim.

None of this negates any of Dell’s other points about Apple’s “green credibility”. Dell’s CEO Bob Pearson posted a statement about this back in December 2008. In that post, Pearson says that Apple isn’t taking part in any conferences or blogosphere activity on environmental issues and that Apple doesn’t seem to be doing much more than making “wild claims” and advertising, while companies like Dell are making a genuine effort to reduce emissions, eliminate unnecessary packaging, become carbon-neutral (which it did in 2008), and focus on energy efficiency. One example of Dell’s efforts is that it topped the TBR Corporate Sustainability Index Benchmark Report in May 2009. Apple, it should be noted, apparently didn’t make the top 10 on that report. Oh well, maybe next year…

While touting its latest MacBooks as “the industry’s greenest notebook family” Apple has simultaneously refused to take part in Greenpeace’s second Electronics Survey that rates the environmental friendliness of companies.

If Apple really has improved its environmental friendliness as its advertising would imply, it seems strange that they would not choose to take part in the survey.  Perhaps this is just a bit of sour grapes over the “greenmyapple.org” site Greenpeace posted in 2007?

According to the CNet News article “How green is Apple Now?“, the company has come a long way toward improving its previously dismal environmental record. That must make Apple Board of Directors member Al Gore proud. It wasn’t that long ago that Greenpeace was slamming Apple for having one of the worst environmental records of any personal computer vendor, and for using some very toxic stuff in making the iPhone.

Today’s MacBooks have mercury-free displays, arsenic-free glass, PVC-free cabels, and no brominated flame retardants according to a recent Apple press release. Even Greenpeace is saying, “This is greener than what Apple has been putting out.”

We congratulate Apple on its very positive efforts at reducing the negative impacts of its products on the environment, and hope that they continue to strive to improve their already much-improved record.

(See, not everything we have to say about Apple here is negative!)

In spite of its recent efforts to become more “green,” it
seems that Apple just can’t catch a break from the
environmentalists.  As reported in InformationWeek on May 9, the non-profit
organization Climate Counts gave Apple 11 points out of a possible 100
in its response to environmental issues.  The next closest company
to Apple in the survey was Dell, which got 49 points to Apple’s
11.  Climate Counts said that Apple was “a choice to avoid for
the climate conscious consumer,” a rating which flies in the face
of the image Apple tries to give to the media.