“Greenpeace has laid into Apple’s iPhone, alleging the device isn’t eco-friendly enough – only to admit that the product not only meets the terms of Apple’s own pledges on the use of certain hazardous chemicals but doesn’t fall foul of European Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) legislation either,” Tony Smith reports for The Register.
Smith asks, “In short, while Greenpeace’s point that Apple really should have shown some materials leadership with the iPhone is a valid one to make, why get stroppy when Apple has not exceeded the limits it has set itself or those imposed upon it by Europe’s RoHS regulations? What about all the other phone makers out there?”
“We’d guess it’s because Apple is an easy target, and Greenpeace knows iPhone related commentary gains press coverage, and that’s why it’s chosen to lay into the Apple handset rather than others. Greenpeace’s write-up doesn’t once compare and contrast the iPhone’s use of hazardous substances with that of any other mobile phone from any other vendor,” Smith reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Linux Guy And Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: As we said yesterday, Greenpeace loves to jump aboard a good PR bandwagon. They’re riding Apple for all they’re worth.
Greenpeace is a farce. And that organization who filed a lawsuit against Apple yesterday based on that report should feel idiotic. Get real, Nokia outsells Apple, what, 90 to 1 and no one even cares to single them out. Ridiculous.
Of course this admission to be buried on the back page.
“As we said yesterday, Greenpeace loves a good PR bandwagon such as Apple.”
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Yup, and it’s less dangerous than to protest against environmental desaster zones in Russia or China
Greenpeace: a bunch of nutjobs, old hippies, and just damn fools.
Get a life, guys!
Greenpiss idiots…
They’ve long ago lost their way. The end DOES NOT justify the means.
But the real news is not that they meet Europe’s or India’s or China’s laws, but that they DONT meet California’s stricter labelling laws.
Hilary Clinton & AlGore’s pride & joy
The lure of big bucks can corrupt even the most idyllic of organisations.
No one is immune! apart from a very select few. I hope I am one of them, having set my stall for Camel’s Milk!
I have never agreed with Greenpeace on ANYTHING. With that said, if they really want corporations to go green, I can’t think of a more self-sabotaging gameplan than this. Why is it that groups who say they want something good self-destruct in the most public manner possible? This doesn’t help the environment one bit, guys. In fact, it erodes what little credibility that you have left. Maybe Greenpeace will dry up and blow away after having cried “wolf” too many times. I wouldn’t miss them, and I doubt that serious eco-warriors would miss them, either.
I was at a ski resort in Lake Tahoe, California this summer, and on the side of the building was a small sign mentioning that the building contains chemicals known to the state of california to cause cancer. That building probably met the European chemical laws too… but it was in California. I don’t care if iPhones meet euro chemical laws, because they are being sold in California where they BREAK the chemical laws. Get a grip mdn, apple is WRONG to do this.
This says it all
“That would have been useful: a document that, rather than whining about one vendor not moving as quickly on this issue as Greenpeace and others would like, shows consumers which handsets on the market contain the least quantities of hazardous chemicals.”
Greenpeace at least learned something. That is the fact that the same medium that allows them to spew their hyperbolic claims to all corners of the Earth also allows people with the actual smarts to analyse and call them on their bullshit. Sort of like the Streisand effect. The louder they carry on the closer their claims will be scrutinized. Notice how it took only days instead of weeks like last time.
I still get a kick out of the scene in the movie Armageddon where Stamper, played by Bruce Willis, lobs golf balls from his oil platform at the Greenpeace boat protesting his drilling. FORE!
I used to have an idealistic impression of greenpeace as a noble organisation until i was harangued by a greenpeace guy on the streets asking for donations. I offered him $20 but he asked me why I didn’t show more devotion to the cause by signing up for monthly donations instead. It was borderline harassment and I ended up walking away. They lost the plot ages ago.
Article got me at “stroppy”…
Greenpeace, Apple Cultists, Same mentality, different causes.
Funny thing is in their office, their all using Macs.
Greenpeace, WWF and the rest are all PR singers looking for a stage. The stage doesn’t get any better than Apple for media attention so the fat lady sings again again again.
MW=upon == As in upon the stage
Noble “Peace” Prize and Greenpeace….two farces in a pod.
Idiotic tree-huggers.
One day the world will bite Greenpeace back…
Dear Greenpeace asshats,
Take a look at this then bite my shiny white a$$:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/05/michigan_apple.php
Just another example of how much greener Apple is than the other guys. Why aren’t you going after them? Because you’re a bunch of bandwagon-chasing loosers, that’s why.
I don’t believe that Green peace is immune to law suits. A really, really big law suite against GP by Apple would do immense damage to the GP reputation, a fate the lying bastards richly deserve.
@ Raymond from DC
Every time I hear the name “Green Peace” I think of that scene and when Stamper (Bruce Willis) makes a comment about how much oil the boat they are on is using… something like this:
“You know how much diesel that clunker boat pumps out an hour?”
All while the green peacers are chanting stop the drilling.
Funny stuff.
The Dude abides.
Hey GS, that is a funny thing, and Algore and GP are totally in bed together. Algore’s hysterically irrelevant environMental campaign is a long running joke, with him tooling around in a freaking private jet to spread the non-news.
Algore owns stock in Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), lives in a 10,000sf, 20-room, 8 bath house in Nashville, and a 4,000sf house in VA, AND he has a third house elsewhere in TN.
I just love it when liberals contradict their own warped ‘standards’.
Another good example is the environmentally sensitive Disney, which produce hundreds of tons of landfill fodder a day in its parks but then shows posters of the Little Mermaid wanting us to “keep the oceans clean”.
When did Greenpeace switch from a Nobel, whale saving group, to a bitchy PR machine?
About the time it’s original Founder’s left, citing the fact the GP has lost it’s way – It now trolls for donations from guilty Liberals with money… so they can troll for even more money from Guilty liberals elsewhere. I had a chance to talk to a (nice) GP volunteer who was at the store “greening” at Macworld ’07, and though she thought she was doing the right thing, the “facts” she had been told by the organizers were a complete sham – most of which Daniel Eran at roughlydrafted debunked. It was a stupid, lame idea, and although their foot soldiers are (naive) college freshmen trying to do something for the planet, the asshats in PR who feed them the lies should be shot. They even ignore the information from their (used to be) reputable scientific side. I bet the scientific side turned in a report talking about the chemicals in the iPhone, and the PR twisted it around so much to make Apple look bad, that they ended up contradicting it. Just like all the environmental PR “reports” on Apple they’ve put out for the last several years.
-javbw
Just because a) they are minority eccentrics and their target b) meets the minimum requirements does not mean c) there’s no room for improvement or d) there’s no need for improvement.
Comments regarding Al Gore are Off Topic – even if they do share many goals.
Comments regarding “liberals” are Off Topic – even if many “liberals” also support “clean Earth” projects. Don’t you?
While I no longer support Green Peace, I continue to support similar goals. I tire – quickly – of bitchy, hysterical, idiotic harangues from thoughtless, reactionary conservatives who believe they have a clue and that everything will be “OK” for their grandkids. Get a clue. You are not the reason the universe exists, you exist only so your grandchildren may have their own. That is nature’s, “God’s”, plan for you.
Sometimes what you say is the right. Sometimes you really get it.
Unfortunately, this is not one of those times.
@DLMeyer
Are you saying you don’t tire of “bitchy, hysterical, idiotic harangues from thoughtless, reactionary conservatives”? Well … SHAME on you!
OK, the point of the article was that Green Peace was admitting to being possibly over-zealous and the responses were slamming GP and anyone with any links to the group. Except, GP isn’t entirely wrong … just greedy in the way they went about grabbing for PR. The point of many of the responses was “I want to pollute until I swim in it, rather than take small steps now because this flawed group told me to” … bunch of childish silliness.
Are you saying you DON’T support having/leaving behind a clean Earth? Or that you think I support GP.
Dave M
I am actually getting a little tired of Green Peace now… screw them! I’ll donate my money to Al Gore’s organization instead!
@face,
the laws regulating such things in Europe is stricter than the laws in California. That’s one of the things that makes Greenpeace’s lambasting of Apple so ridiculous.
@DLMeyer
You’re a tool.
You also probably think *WE* can stop the war in Iraq/Iran/Sudan/Afghanistan/North Korea/etc, any time we want just by leaving or patronizing them. Never mind the people that want to actively kill us no matter where we are, what we think, or what we say. We don’t have a say in stopping a war that wasn’t started by us. Kill, or get killed. Save the planet? How ’bout saving our country and our asses for our grandkids. Get it? Didn’t think so.
BACK ON TOPIC (just for you), do you really think industry in India, China ChiCom’s and the Kyoto Treaty are the best things for the planet? If so, you probably thought that was the smell of flowers coming out of my ass.
“the laws regulating such things in Europe is stricter than the laws in California. “
Sometimes, but not in this instance. RoHS restricts 6 substances only. The relevant Californian law covers any carcinogen or reproductive toxin and oficially lists hundreds of them.
The Californian law only requires a warning label.
RoHS requires you all but eliminate the specific substances.
In essence they are very different laws. Complying with one does not mean you have complied with the other.
@Goober
“We don’t have a say in stopping a war that wasn’t started by us.”
wow. guess those Iraqi’s were “coming right at you”… shoot first ask questions later!
and you think Meyer is a tool.
I used to have great respect for Greenpeace, and even cooked a dinner for them once when the second Rainbow Warrior was docked in San Francisco about 15 years ago.
But the way they have gone nowhere but downhill and can’t even seem to get their own agenda and facts straight makes me feel like…well, giving up on them.
So long for now, GP. Bring back the old guard.
GoreGoober:
What a pair of asswipes. Gore criticises “liberals” in one breath adn rolls it into Disney – as if they’re the same. Walt Disney was a goose-stepping neo-nazi. The FBI used to follow him to Nazi party meetings in California in the late 30’s.
And Goober… what a stupid prick he is. He lumps China’s horrendous pollution of the planet with the Kyoto Treaty which every western nation – EXCEPT the US signed up to. It’s not a panacea, but it IS a start. What the f8ck are you doing to conserve energy, asswipe?
Me thinks thou doest protest too much
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Rush to judge, and Rush’s a fool
If you are err less, then you be cool
Gore flies to tell his tale
But through other’s lies pollution prevails
When you do as much as gore has done
then you can share some Nobel sun
Till then say nay to Rush O’Rielly
followed by fools, they lie for profit entirely
So Apple does ok, but could do better
don’t waste time here, send Apple a letter
Your hate for Greepaece reveals thine heart
While Greenpeace fails in noble causes
your vitriol shows you are just a fart
Save the planet! Boycott Rush, O”Rielly, Beck, Malkin & Colter!!!
@HueyLong
Take it easy friend. I save electricity plenty. I turn off the light in my bomb shelter when I’m not down there. And I recycle beer cans.
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For the Kyoto Treaty– it authorizes something like 900 coal-fired power plants each for India and the ChiCom’s. And the world’s paying them to do it so they can *feel* better about themsleves.
Save the planet! Support Rush, O”Rielly, Beck, Malkin & Colter!!!
I agree that going for Apple in this case is really nuts.
They’ve sold maybe a million or two iPhones.
Do you know how many mobile phones were sold in 2006?
990 million!
None of these were from Apple.
@poo.
That South Park reference was fantastically appropriate regarding Iraq. Good Work.
Greenpeace, PETA and MADD, organisations that have lost their way. Why does the media even print their crap press releases? Oh wait, the media have lost their way too. Now it all makes sense.
@makemineamac
thanks… I try.
Cool down here folks.
Yes, it looks like Greenpeace really blew it on their facts and tooks the squeaky-wheel route. For that they should be taken to task.
And some eco-folks are over-zealous. Yes, so?
Plenty of over-zealous folks on the it’s-my-right-to-pollute side too.
But my experience is that most folks, whatever “side”, are generally more moderate.
And Apple has come out with a policy to remove toxics and start being a more green company. I am grateful they are moving in the sustainable direction.
And to those who have jumped on this as an opportunity to shout and demonize pretty much anyone concerned about the environment — jeesh, take a breath man (at least while the air is breathable) and do some meditation (or medication).
Bottom line is, long term — we all need to pay attention to cleaning up our physical ecology and our social ecology. As we are stuck with each other on a planet with finite resources.
So I vote for learning to get along.
Cool down here folks.
Yes, it looks like Greenpeace really blew it on their facts and tooks the squeaky-wheel route. For that they should be taken to task.
And some eco-folks are over-zealous. Yes, so?
Plenty of over-zealous folks on the it’s-my-right-to-pollute side too.
But my experience is that most folks, whatever “side”, are generally more moderate.
And Apple has come out with a policy to remove toxics and start being a more green company. I am grateful they are moving in the sustainable direction.
And to those who have jumped on this as an opportunity to shout and demonize pretty much anyone concerned about the environment — jeesh, take a breath man (at least while the air is breathable) and do some meditation (or medication).
Bottom line is, long term — we all need to pay attention to cleaning up our physical ecology and our social ecology. As we are stuck with each other on a planet with finite resources.
So I vote for learning to get along.
Cool down here folks.
Yes, it looks like Greenpeace really blew it on their facts and tooks the squeaky-wheel route. For that they should be taken to task.
And some eco-folks are over-zealous. Yes, so?
Plenty of over-zealous folks on the it’s-my-right-to-pollute side too.
But my experience is that most folks, whatever “side”, are generally more moderate.
And Apple has come out with a policy to remove toxics and start being a more green company. I am grateful they are moving in the sustainable direction.
And to those who have jumped on this as an opportunity to shout and demonize pretty much anyone concerned about the environment — jeesh, take a breath man (at least while the air is breathable) and do some meditation (or medication).
Bottom line is, long term — we all need to pay attention to cleaning up our physical ecology and our social ecology. As we are stuck with each other on a planet with finite resources.
So I vote for learning to get along.
Cool down here folks.
Yes, it looks like Greenpeace really blew it on their facts and tooks the squeaky-wheel route. For that they should be taken to task.
And some eco-folks are over-zealous. Yes, so?
Plenty of over-zealous folks on the it’s-my-right-to-pollute side too.
But my experience is that most folks, whatever “side”, are generally more moderate.
And Apple has come out with a policy to remove toxics and start being a more green company. I am grateful they are moving in the sustainable direction.
And to those who have jumped on this as an opportunity to shout and demonize pretty much anyone concerned about the environment — jeesh, take a breath man (at least while the air is breathable) and do some meditation (or medication).
Bottom line is, long term — we all need to pay attention to cleaning up our physical ecology and our social ecology. As we are stuck with each other on a planet with finite resources.
So I vote for learning to get along.
Cool down here folks.
Yes, it looks like Greenpeace really blew it on their facts and tooks the squeaky-wheel route. For that they should be taken to task.
And some eco-folks are over-zealous. Yes, so?
Plenty of over-zealous folks on the it’s-my-right-to-pollute side too.
But my experience is that most folks, whatever “side”, are generally more moderate.
And Apple has come out with a policy to remove toxics and start being a more green company. I am grateful they are moving in the sustainable direction.
And to those who have jumped on this as an opportunity to shout and demonize pretty much anyone concerned about the environment — jeesh, take a breath man (at least while the air is breathable) and do some meditation (or medication).
Bottom line is, long term — we all need to pay attention to cleaning up our physical ecology and our social ecology. As we are stuck with each other on a planet with finite resources.
So I vote for learning to get along.
Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!
“Yes, it looks like Greenpeace really blew it on their facts and tooks the squeaky-wheel route. For that they should be taken to task.”
Actually it looks like you blew it on your facts. Claiming that the phone is OK with respect to California law because it passes a completely different European law’s requirements is like saying it’s OK for you to speed because you’re complying with the seat belt laws.
Greenpeace is a group of Keystone eco warriors, where’s the peace in that?
Getting along with credible parties is fine with me.
@ The Bard
Very nice! Encore!
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