This news is now a couple of days old, but it's worth repeating. In response to a ton of heckling from the outside world and an organized campaign by Greenpeace, Apple has started to make good on a promise to detoxify its products. With Al Gore on the board of Apple, this has been something of an embarrassment for the company for quite a while. The new fourth-generation Nano finally makes a break from some of the nasty metals and chemicals that make our beloved little gadgets into little environmental gremlins.
Eco Tech Daily has some good coverage:
Specifically targeted: reducing lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and PVCs in
computers and home entertainment components. Apple has also been giving some
thought to its packaging, opting for biodegradable materials and reducing
unnecessary bulk wherever possible. This summer’s 3G iPhones shipped in
Styrofoam-free trays made from potato starch.
Arsenic-free display glass
Construction free of Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs)
No use of mercury
No use of PVCs
Highly recyclable metal casing
I'm not sure what "highly recyclable" means, but it's clear that Apple is at long last starting to take this important issue seriously--all those toxic chemicals are bad for the planet, bad for the manufacturing crews, and might just be bad for the end users. The company has promised to make similar changes to its entire product line by 2010, so look for more announcements like this in the next few Apple product launch extravaganzas.
For more on the topic, see this
ABC News story and the
official tech specs from Apple.
Labels: apple, jason, mp3 player
Some quick notes from the green music scene:
- As reported by Fox News (!) and The Daily Green, a group of musicians led by aging rockers Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Graham Nash are joining up to fight a federal loan guarantee provision for nuclear power that is messing up an otherwise decent energy bill. I'm neither here nor there on nuclear, preferring negawatts to megawatts, but the libertarian in me doesn't like big subsidies for big business. So rock on, Bonnie! To sign the petition and see a full list of artists against nuclear power, check out NukeFree.org.
- Via EcoRazzi, Guster's Adam Gardner headlined a hearing on biofuels in our nation's illustrious capitol. Adam's pretty deeply involved in the green music biz--look for an interview with him in the coming weeks if I can wrangle one.
- The Scotsman reports on a wind-up MP3 player. CNet has a good review, but at $350 for only 2gigs of storage, this one's not exactly going to fly off the shelves, but who knows, maybe Apple will be inspired to do it better.
Labels: adam gardner, bonnie raitt, graham nash, guster, jackson browne, jason, mp3 player, nuclear
