Apple Issues Statement on EPEAT Registry Withdrawal
Late last week, we noted that Apple had pulled all of its qualifying Mac products from the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) registry for environmental ratings.
The move, which is said to have been related to Apple's design decisions that will disqualify its new and upcoming products from the registry, has the potential to impact Apple's presence in governmental and institutional purchasing. The city of San Francisco is among the first entities to act on Apple's withdrawal, announcing that it will bar most municipal Mac purchases.
Apple has now issued a statement to The Loop addressing its environmental outlook and its commitment to continue meeting other modern standards like Energy Star.
“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,” Apple representative Kristin Huguet, told The Loop. “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removal of toxic materials.”The Loop's Jim Dalrymple notes that even EPEAT acknowledges that many of its standards are outdated, with Apple apparently believing that those criteria have become too restrictive and do not address the full gamut of the company's environmental commitments.
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22 months ago
It still doesn't excuse making it harder for an average consumer to tear apart the device to take it in for recycling.
Honestly, how many consumers tear apart their computers on their own? Most people that don’t just trash their computers or sell them as is on ebay are taking them as is to the local trash company and pay to dispose them in with other computers. They don’t tear them down themselves.
Heck our company pays somebody to dispose computers without discrimination and we are EPEAT Gold.
22 months ago
In these posts I've seen the following:
1) People attacking San Francisco because Apple products no longer fit their policy (if they bend the policy, what is the point of the policy?) or saying their tax dollars shouldn't be wasted on Macs (despite 1-2% of all computer being Macs) or the fact that it's a hippie town (what does that have to do with anything?)
2) People attacking Apple for no longer caring about the environment when there is evidence in the past for the exact opposite.
3) People attacking EPEAT for having outdated standards (though I don't think most people even know what those standards are), though Apple proudly touted their logo for the last 5 years. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.
Honestly, I wish people would act rationally about discussing this topic instead of ad hominem attacks against people. I'd rather have the following:
1) Cities and governments commit to green initiatives that they've already put into place.
2) Apple to describe what it is doing to environmentally dispose of products like the iPad and Retina MacBook Pro where glue is used.
3) EPEAT to update its standards where necessary and work with Apple to update them (Apple did help with the guidelines when EPEAT was founded).
The amount of vitriol around this issue is unproductive at best and idiotic at worst. People need to work on issues and stop mindlessly attacking each other (I don't expect corporations and our government to act any better than the people work there).
1) People attacking San Francisco because Apple products no longer fit their policy (if they bend the policy, what is the point of the policy?) or saying their tax dollars shouldn't be wasted on Macs (despite 1-2% of all computer being Macs) or the fact that it's a hippie town (what does that have to do with anything?)
2) People attacking Apple for no longer caring about the environment when there is evidence in the past for the exact opposite.
3) People attacking EPEAT for having outdated standards (though I don't think most people even know what those standards are), though Apple proudly touted their logo for the last 5 years. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.
Honestly, I wish people would act rationally about discussing this topic instead of ad hominem attacks against people. I'd rather have the following:
1) Cities and governments commit to green initiatives that they've already put into place.
2) Apple to describe what it is doing to environmentally dispose of products like the iPad and Retina MacBook Pro where glue is used.
3) EPEAT to update its standards where necessary and work with Apple to update them (Apple did help with the guidelines when EPEAT was founded).
The amount of vitriol around this issue is unproductive at best and idiotic at worst. People need to work on issues and stop mindlessly attacking each other (I don't expect corporations and our government to act any better than the people work there).
22 months ago
Damage control... or rather image control or PR... what ever you wanna call it. This is what Apple is doing.
I have admit there are certain things the EPEAT can do to make their standards better. (If they so believe they are outdated).
I have admit there are certain things the EPEAT can do to make their standards better. (If they so believe they are outdated).
22 months ago
So glad Apple is sticking to their guns on this one and not hindering their innovation while at the same time still making it loud and clear their effort in keeping green on their products.
Can't wait to see the future redesign of an iMac (and the other Macs as well)using what they've learned on the retina Macbook Pro.
Can't wait to see the future redesign of an iMac (and the other Macs as well)using what they've learned on the retina Macbook Pro.
22 months ago
That's the lamest excuse I have ever heard from a company. They are attacking a standard as an excuse for pulling there products from attempting to follow that standard.
They should just face it that they can't meet EPEAT environmental standards. I love Apple products, but come on and stop trying to make excuses.
They should just face it that they can't meet EPEAT environmental standards. I love Apple products, but come on and stop trying to make excuses.
22 months ago
Hmmm, thats a pretty good point there.
It still doesn't excuse making it harder for an average consumer to tear apart the device to take it in for recycling.
Although I imagine that was more useful at a time when there were fewer places you could take whole old devices to recycle.
The average consumer would GO TO THE NEAREST APPLE STORE AND TAKE THEIR DEVICE FOR RECYCLING AND GET A GIFT CARD FOR DOING SO..if there are no Apple Store nearby, the average consumer will get Apple to ship it for free to recycle their old device and get a gift card for doing so.
P.S. I got a $163 for recycling my old ass almost dead iMac..
http://www.apple.com/recycling/
22 months ago
Yep, Apple truly doesn't care about the environment anymore. They're just greedy and want their designs to be the smallest, lightest, regardless of how terrible it is for the rest of the planet. How dare they.
22 months ago
"Our products are not easy to work on or disassemble because we use screws such as the ones holding on the back of the iPhone when we could easily use Philips head screws which would not require a specialty tool to remove"
22 months ago
Just like the thinking that governs San Francisco... :rolleyes:
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/
/
I'll take "San Francisco thinking" over most of the "red state thinking" any day.
Wait - does using "red state" and "thinking" in the same sentence constitute an oxymoron? I think that it does....
22 months ago
Or, the smart consumer will sell it on eBay / Craigslist and make more money than if he/she were to give it back to Apple and get a gift card.
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