Apple Computers And The Carbon Footprint
Environmentalism is becoming chic again and the technology sector is adapting remarkably quickly to the trend. In fact, with technology improving and making access to educational tools easier, computer and electronics manufacturers must adapt to environmentalist policies or be left behind. Apple is, unsurprisingly, the computer company leading the charge toward more transparent environmental policy. While most of Apple’s manufacturing is done in China, a country with little regard to reducing the carbon footprint of companies there, independent auditors have found that even the Chinese facilities are better complying with Apple’s requests to reduce carbon emissions.
It makes a lot of sense that Apple would be at the forefront of improved environmental policy in the technology sector; Apple has long courted baby boomers and youth. Both the baby boomer generation and young people are heavily interested and educated in environmental matters. To appeal to both, and just to be a decent environmental steward, Apple has been disclosing its carbon footprint information regularly.
The news is good for both Apple and environmental activists! While opponents argue that Apple dramatically underestimated the demand for several of its products, notably the iPad, Apple continues to illustrate a commitment to reducing its carbon footprint in several ways. Amid useless graphs that illustrate that Apple’s profits rose more than their carbon footprint – a baffling and utterly useless correlation – Apple actually has some facts worth touting in the area of environmental responsibility. Some of the efforts Apple has made to reduce its carbon footprint include:
Apple has improved the manufacturing processes for popular enduring product lines. Apple is constantly innovating to improve both the product design and manufacturing process of its electronics. The improvements Apple has made as a function of making their products cooler and more efficient have led to a 50% carbon emission reduction for the iMac! The iPad 2 was only released a year after the original iPad. Even so, improvements in the iPad design led to a 5% carbon emission reduction for the iPad 2! Apple really shines with the Apple Television, which Apple redesigned for a 90% reduction in carbon emissions in its manufacture!
Apple has been making smaller packages to reduce carbon emissions from transport. One of the largest carbon footprints comes from the transportation industry. That carbon footprint is something of a necessary evil as the transportation industry is the only way to get products and services into the marketplace. By reducing the package size of the iPhone, Apple has reduced the carbon footprint of a jet engine for every 371,250 iPhones it sold!
Apple has also reduced the carbon footprint of its facilities in innovative ways. While the actual corporate facilities and manufacturing plants only account for 2% of Apple’s carbon footprint, Apple made changes to reduce that footprint. Apple encourages its employees to carpool or use public transportation. The transportation programs have cut Apple’s carbon dioxide emissions by over ten million kilograms! Apple has also begun using wind power for electricity generation, which has prevented another 21.5 million kilograms of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere!
With Apple leading the charge for other technology companies, the outlook for the Earth is looking better than it has in a long time.
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