Apple has been criticized in the past for not pursuing aggressive enough environmental efforts.  They said in their recent press release that “in many cases Apple is ahead of, or will soon be ahead of, most of its competitors in these areas.”  They also stated that “we [Apple] have failed to communicate the things that we are doing well.”  The criticisms of Apple's environmental policy are proven inaccurate as Apple goes on to list the several initiatives Apple is currently doing, or will soon put into action, to make their products greener.  From removing toxic chemicals from products to properly recycling products Apple seems to have strong environmental goals.

Lead is one of the most common and most toxic chemicals still used in products today. Few know that there can be as much as three pounds of lead in computer screens, these are CRT displays. In 2006 Apple became the first computer company in the industry to completely eliminate CRT displays. In case you do not know the health risks of lead, lead poisoning can slow mental development in children and can also lead to damage in reproductive functions to in adults. Companies like Dell, Gateway, Hewlett Packard, and Lenovo still make CRT displays for their computers. The new LCD- based iMac contains less than one gram of lead.

All of Apple's products comply with the European Union’s restrictions on toxic substances known as RoHS. As Apple states in their online press release “Apple products met both the spirit and letter of the RoHS restrictions on cadmium, hexavalent chromium and brominated flame retardants years before RoHS went into effect.”

Apple began its recycling efforts in 1994, since then they have recycling programs in 93% of the countries where Ipods or Apple computers are sold. Apple tracks how effective its recycling efforts are by taking the current weight of products recycling and comparing it to the total weight of products sold seven years earlier.

To the right is a graph of recycled products based on current recycled weight verses total weight of products sold seven years earlier.

In addition, Apple never sends its products overseas for disposal nor do they permit the use of prison labor in any stage of recycling. Apple will also take back any unwanted or broken Ipod for an environmentally friendly disposal, and even gives back a 10 percent discount off of a new Ipod.

So as you can see Apple is a leader for environmental efforts and has been/ is continuing to do so. There is no reason for concern; it is a green Apple after all.