We did it. Steve Jobs caved in to the growing demand that iPods be easier to recycle. As I wrote shortly before the Apple shareholders meeting, Instead of being smart and doing the right thing then, Jobs chose to kick and scream and get some more bad press for awhile first. Links to my post surely are what turned the tide. Don't you think?
A story in Friday's Technology Daily spotlights what online advocates are doing to pressure Apple to redesign iPods so consumers can recycle the batteries. If they're not recycled, the batteries leech toxic lead and mercury out of landfills and into public ecosystems.
Activists are focusing on the April 21 Apple shareholders meeting to get Board members like Al Gore to push Apple to produce toxic-free iPods. The article quotes Ted Smith of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition who says, "They designed it so you can't remove the battery and recycle it. Apple designed them for consumer glitz and not for the environment."
Why won't Steve Jobs make iPods greener? The Computer Take Back Campaign website quotes an unidentified Apple worker, who says that Steve Jobs is telling employees, "Oh, we’re as green as we can be.Those activists just want money from us."
I hope that rumor's wrong.Fans of Apple want the company to do more than make financial contributions. The Green Guide, the source for green living resources, allows consumers to forward voice mail messages and e-mail to Steve Jobs, reminding him that "unlike Dell and HP, you do not support legislation here in the U.S. that would require companies such as Apple to take responsibility for the electronics they sell once they have become obsolete. These requirements are already standard in other parts of the world where you do business."
Get with the program, Steve. You've got a PR disaster on your hands if this blows up at the shareholders meeting.Your customers want to be green, so do the right thing.
