Tech2, October 27, 2006

GREENPEACE FORCED TO LEAVE APPLE EXPO

[Rachel's introduction: Greenpeace purchased a booth at Mac Expo to pressure Apple Computer to adopt green business practices, including the precautionary principle. For their efforts, Greenpeace activists were ejected from the Expo.]

By Sharon Khare

Greenpeace's high profile 'Green my Apple' stall was shut-down at the start of the Mac Expo -- organisers of the Mac Expo claimed they had received complaints from unnamed sources. The Greenpeace stall was bought for the three-day expo in an attempt to raise awareness about concerns over the use of toxic chemicals in Apple's products.

The Greenpeace volunteers manning the stall were signing up Mac fans to challenge Apple to go green. Flyers explaining the 'Green my Apple' campaign were handed out to members of the public along with organic green apples. The volunteers have vowed to return to the expo tomorrow to continue the 'Green my Apple' campaign.

"This reaction is totally over-the-top" said Iza Kruszewska, Greenpeace International campaigner at the expo. "Apple refuses to address our criticisms on their products, both for the recycling and for the use of harmful chemicals. Instead of hiding their head in the sand, Apple should be a world leader in the greening of the electronics industry, not lagging behind," she said.

Apple scored 11th place (out of 14) on a 'Guide to Greener Electronics' recently released by Greenpeace, with a poor showing on almost all criteria. Greenpeace also said that Apple fails to embrace the precautionary principle, withholds its full list of regulated substances, provides no timelines for eliminating toxic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and no commitment at all to phasing out all uses of brominated flame retardants (BFRs). The company also performs poorly on product take back and recycling, with the exception of reporting on the amounts of its electronic waste recycled.

"It's time for Apple to use clean components in all of its products and to provide a free take-back program to reuse and recycle its products wherever they are sold. We are challenging the world leader in design to also be a world leader in environmental innovation. We challenge Apple to have a product range on the market by 2007 which is free of the worst toxic chemicals," said Kruszewska.