Survey: ‘Apple users more likely to be green-minded’

“Apple users are proportionally more eco-friendly than users of other vendors’ PCs. Moreover, they’re more willing to plunk down extra cash for ‘green’ products,” Ted Samson blogs for Infoworld.

Samson continues, “That nugget of information is one many findings in a report just released by Forrester Research titled ‘In Search Of Green Technology Consumers: Why Tech Marketers Should Target This Emerging Segment.’ Forrester surveyed computer users to determine the extent of their green leanings and what drove their environmentally conscientious practices (or lack thereof).”

“The report finds that, all told, 12 percent of U.S. adults are ‘bright green,’ which Forrester defines as those who are ‘concerned about the environment and global warming, and strongly agree that they would pay extra for consumer electronics that used less energy or came from a company that was environmentally friendly.’ Moreover, another 41 percent of U.S. adults are ‘green consumers’: those who ‘share concerns about environmental issues and global warming, but do not strongly agree that they would pay more for environmentally-friendly electronics,'” Samson reports. “The remaining 47 percent of the population ‘do not (yet) share the greens’ concerns about the environment or global warming.”

Samson reports, “Forrester found that 14 percent of Apple users are bright green.”

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple users, we can see; it was the ’70’s, after all. But, what about Mac users? wink

68 Comments

  1. Nah don’t believe it, Democrats can’t be green too.

    Apple users must be bright green then, green as in apple and bright as in glossy screens.

    ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />

  2. I am environmentally conscious… I even drive a van on filtered waste vegetable oil. Saves me a ton of money! Macs to me also are enviro friendly for many reasons… most old Macs are still working, we are more productive and not fighting some stupid virus off which gives us users more time to do other things, and if companies would wake up to the BS of their IT departments, they would realize how much money they are wasting on the IT department using their electricity, ac, travel, etc.

  3. People that are “Green” tend to be well informed about the environment and open to new ideas, wouldn’t you say?

    People that use Macs tend to be well informed, and open to new ideas.

    People that use Windows tend to be ignorant. And yes, most people are ignorant.

  4. I’m sick of Greenpeace being the authority on environmental issues. If they really cared about the environment, they would support the proliferation of nuclear power plants and breeder reactors. They support a misinformation campaign that stifles innovation and clean energy. Look at the link: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/nuclear the ominous looking power plant is a coal plant. You can tell from the smoke stacks. Less radiation escapes a nuclear power plant in a year than you would be exposed to in a single coast to coast flight.

  5. Global warming is not caused by man. Electric cars cost more resources than the gas to run a regular auto. Green schmeen.

    Robin Hood was as green as they come, just like the libs, he robbed the rich and gave it to the lazy. Just like the government – of both stripes.

    Love my Mac & iPhone.

  6. That might be true, but Apple goes backward sometimes…

    Example: Costco used to sell a $50.00 iTunes card for $44.99 (a 10% discount). You used to grab this big plastic package and take it to the registers, then pick up the actual card at the pickup area. The card itself was a double sized card, but at least the big plastic package stayed with the store and I assume it was reused…

    Now they sell a 4 pack of $15 iTunes cards for $56.99 (a 5% discount) in a plastic box which is activated at the checkout, so we don’t have to go to the pickup window. Not only is there double the amount of plastic with the 4 cards vs the old double card, but now the plastic box goes home with us.

    I think this is a step backwards… Maybe the 5% discount that we no longer get is being donated to recycling efforts, but I doubt it…

  7. Global warming, maybe, maybe not. Wrong argument. CO2 not the worst offender anyway, ever heard of NOX? Digging stuff up from below ground and shoving it in to the atmosphere is caused by man though.

    Simplify things so that people think that they know, then they can carry on being good consumers and working hard to pay for it.

    Knowledge – cost of a Mac and broadband, Understanding – priceless.

    There is no energy crisis, ask Tesla. Free energy for all, oops, that upsets the profits, better withdraw the funding. What else can we do to push the oil price up…..?

    My Macs are greener that most PCs, tiny mini, tower 5 years old, s/h iBook. Less noise pollution too.

  8. I’m a Mac user, have been for about 7 years now. I learned about Environmental Conservation when I was in Boy Scouts as a kid. While I do not have a degree in Science, I am Science minded and have many close relatives in Scientific fields. Not a single one of us believes that the Global Warming of recent years is caused by man. I have long suspected and now with recent evidence believe, that planetary warming and cooling trends are more closely tied to increased or decreased Solar Activity. Man has a more direct impact on his local surroundings and common sense should always prevail when it comes to being stewards of our planet. But giving in to hysteria and hype, especially when the science of Climate Change is such a young field of study and is constantly evolving with new evidence comes to light, is a terribly naive and costly thing to do. Global Warming as an issue is more politically and monetarily driven, rather than scientifically understood at this stage.

  9. Ron, get your head out of your arse, er, the sand:

    http://www.teslamotors.com/efficiency/well_to_wheel.php
    http://www.teslamotors.com/efficiency/environmental_benefits.php

    Read a few more bits on that site to complete your education. One thing not mentioned there, though, is this little gem: “A nation of 100% hybrids is still a nation 100% dependent on petroleum.” With electric vehicles (the Tesla gets 245 mi per charge, btw), the source of the electricity is unimportant: solar, wind, tidal, nuclear, or even coal — hopefully the cleaner kind. And, you should note, its easier to clean up a relative few coal power plants than millions of exhaust pipes.

    Working in the agriculture industry this past year has really brought home that we can’t grow enough corn and soybeans to both fuel our cars and feed ourselves. Let me know and I’ll provide the details. As for hydrogen, the infrastructure is totally nonexistent, yet there’s electricity practically everywhere.

    And yes, you can directly charge an electric car with solar panels — Tesla’s partnering with Solar City so owners get zero-cost electricity for their driving. And it’s a pretty nice bonus that that free power in a Tesla will smoke most stuff on the road.

    Guess this comment means I’m on of those bright green Mac users.

  10. “What is the point of registering your name on MDN if others can use your name anyway?

    This isn’t Ampar of course…. “

    I’m honored in a slightly creeped out sort of way. But good to know.

    Oh, and um <looks down shirt>, this is me.

  11. I’m sick of Greenpeace being the authority on environmental issues.

    Well, calm down then because they aren’t. Environmental scientists don’t consult Greenpeace. Policy makers (well, sane policy makers) don’t consult Greenpeace.

  12. I am Science minded and have many close relatives in Scientific fields. Not a single one of us believes that the Global Warming of recent years is caused by man.

    Now that is some comprehensive statistical analysis right there. I’m convinced.

  13. Brandon Petersen,
    Nuclear power definitely isn’t clean. During a plant’s life, there is tonnes of deadly radioactive waste which remains deadly for tens of thousands of years and we haven’t worked out an effective way to deal with this waste. At the end of the plant’s life, there’s an enormous amount of radioactive waste that needs to be disposed of.
    Clean coal is a crock of shit – it involves pumping the carbon dioxide underground. And we know what happens when there’s a sudden out-gassing of CO2 from volcanos and calderas – total annihilation of every living (non-plant) thing within the gas cloud’s reach.
    Earthquakes, land slides, bedrock subsidence, pressure fracturing, blasting, meteor impact – out comes all that gas or in the case of an underground nuclear waste disposal site, contamination of ground water and the atmosphere. Very much a potential time bomb.
    Want to save the planet? Buy clean energy produced by solar, wind, wave, tidal, geo-thermal and hydro. It costs a little more, but you seriously won’t notice.
    Only drive when you absolutely have to.
    Don’t drive to the corner shop, walk and take the dog if you have one – it’s healthier for the mind and body.
    Use public transport or ride a bike.
    Say no to plastic bags and take your own bags when you go shopping.
    Choose products with minimal packaging which is recyclable.
    Buy clothes made from hemp.
    Buy less, save more.
    Invest your dollars in environmentally friendly companies – they are the ones which will be making big dollars in the future.
    Boycott companies with atrocious environmental and/or human rights records, such as Exxon-Mobil, Shell, Nestle, BHP-Billington, Coca-Cola to name a few.
    Eat sensibly, exercise and don’t over-indulge in your favourite vice/s.
    Ditch sugary fizzy water drinks and bottled water and take a bottle of tap water or fruit juice instead.
    Turn the lights off.
    Replace old energy hog appliances with efficient ones.
    Grow your own fruit and vegetables – it’s fun to get into the garden, and you know exactly what you are eating and the food will have a zero carbon footprint.
    Conserve water – clean water is the most precious commodity on Earth.
    If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down.

    Follow these very simple things, and you’ll have a healthier lifestyle, you’ll feel better for it, and your doing your little bit to make the air you breath cleaner.

    Who seriously wants to breath dirty smoggy air?

  14. Stuart, I agree with your observations. But we also need more macro solutions like regulating the economy to reward corporations when they solve problems at the source.

    Legalizing hemp would be a boon for the economy as well as easing our abuse of the environment. Unfortunately their are business interests who are threatened by hemp including paper companies, pharmaceutical companies, alcohol producing companies, tobacco companies, oil companies, plus we’ve got a huge complex of government agencies also threatened by its legalization, like the courts, prisons, and the myriad of policing agencies. I suppose drug dealers wouldn’t like it either.

    The best thing to do with the nuclear industry is pack it up, contain in a rocket, and send to the sun for incineration… that idea courtesy of Buckminster Fuller.

  15. Stuart,

    Nuclear power is not perfect. But Breeder reactors nearly are. Unfortunately Jimmy Carter signed a stupid executive order in 1976 banning any reprocessing of nuclear waste. This effectively banned the use of breeder reactors, which produce about 1/1000 of the waste of conventional reactors and the remaining waste has a half-life of 40-50 years. Hence the reason I mentioned breeder reactors in my original post.

    However, even conventional nuclear power plants have a lower overall environmental impact than solar, wind, or other crock energy sources.

  16. The best thing to do with the nuclear industry is pack it up, contain in a rocket, and send to the sun for incineration… that idea courtesy of Buckminster Fuller.

    Um, that’s not what you should’ve taken out of his statement. It wasn’t meant as a proposition, it was meant as a unreasonable conlcusion. Here is the quote:

    The would-be exploiters of atomic energy on board our planet earth will in due course discover there is no way for them to solve atomic- energy-radiation waste disposal problems save by rocketing it all back to the sun, where it belongs.

    Please, don’t ever misrepresent Bucky like that again.

  17. Nice to see so many people think that global warming is a fantasy, which actually it is. So keep on burning those fossil fuels and releasing those toxic chemicals. More power to you.

    I am sure that a lot of people probably don’t realize that humans are the only species that produces toxic material not only to itself but every other living species on the planet. That is quite the achievement, since the species doesn’t seem to have any other unique features pass an opposable thumb.

    So global warming may not be an issue, and you might be forgetting about Katrina, and Hugo and the rest, so relax and enjoy it…while you still can.

  18. Hemp clothes are great, very breathable, last longer, and filter the sun’s radiation better.

    This is a really stupid point to press but I must. Notice: soft is not in the description. Also absent: supple. There is a reason you can find plenty of hemp twine and rope but no hemp bath robes or pajamas. And it has nothing to do with some powerful DuPont lobby. There is no powerful paper lobby behind criminlized cannabis either.

    And seriously, any tightly woven textile can provide adequate protection against UV, the thicker the better. I’d also be interested in any scientific paper you could link to for this claim. Not because I doubt you, though I do, but because I’m genuinely interested and can’t find anything so far.

  19. Carbon dioxide as the agent for global warming or climate change is just ludicrous.

    Water vapor is up to 100 times more prevalent in the atmosphere and it’s a better greenhouse agent than carbon dioxide.

    Water vapor concentrations in the atmosphere can be greatly influenced by tropical rain forests. Equatorial rain forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate. The very humid rain forests are being replaced by dry desert 3 to 5 years after the trees are cut down or burned off.

    There is a direct correlation between the destruction of the tropical rain forests over the past 30 years and the climate and average temperature changes over the last 30 years.

    The only problem is that most of the countries containing depleted tropical rain forests are very poor and over populated. The only way to get money to replant the rain forests is to extort money from major hydrocarbon users.

    Thus the bullshit about carbon dioxide being the cause of global warming or climate change.

    And yes, I am a scientist.

  20. Woody states:

    “Working in the agriculture industry this past year has really brought home that we can’t grow enough corn and soybeans to both fuel our cars and feed ourselves.”

    This sort of ignorance is hard to take, where do you people come up with such nonsense?
    I guess the really stupid people don’t understand that after alcohol is produce there is still feed value in the grain that was used. For a person who claims to be in agriculture, woody might actually want to visit an ethanol plant (one should be close to his agriculture area). During his visit he might notice that distillers grain leaves the plant at a brisk pace to be feed to livestock, producing plenty of food for our nation, and much of the rest of the world.

    Woody might also want to study some numbers on just how much grain is exported per year, then do some math on how much alcohol could be produced before it is shipped out.

    Stupid assumptions like “can’t grow enough corn to fuel our cars, and feed ourselves…” suggests that woody works for an oil company rather then knows anything about agriculture.

    Look, if you don’t understand the process of how alcohol is made, and how grain that has been broken down to make alcohol is in many ways BETTER feed for cattle, ect., just stay out of the conversation. You won’t have anything useful to add, and just will end up making an ass of yourself.

    It is not a choice of food OR fuel. Go educate yourself on the process.

  21. Yes, ibook, it was a pun, and an analogy, and a lesson, all wrapped up in a tender flakey crust. It’s delicious!

    At the core of the free enterprise system IS profit;gain based on performance. That performance is what fuels our economy and creates sustainability.

    Contains no MSG or BS!!! And has 100% RDA of the USA.
    Warning:May cause choking in infants, the small minded, and Frank.

  22. @ mike_in_helsinki (and others)

    This is one of the problems, that some people treat this as a _political_ issue. This is about as much a political issue as spouse abuse, homicide and lung cancer. Or proliferation of nuclear weapons. But of course some people said lung cancer was a political issue a while back too …

    There is a problem, however, in that these kind of issues on MDN tend to end up as flame fests. Not sure whose the blame is though ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />

  23. “It’s only a political issue because one party doesn’t believe in it. Same reason evolution is an issue.”

    I would offer the opposite spin: One party constantly promotes new fears for the reason of gaining votes and power. Perhaps you are too young to remember the coming Ice Age.

  24. TT and anyone who put’s “The Market” on some kind of pedestal, Capitalism runs counter to sustainability. If it’s not regulated, it will burn itself out, like a child with too much candy. It boggles my mind how some people downplay the importance of a healthy environment. No environment, … no economy, … no life. It’s similar to how the earth revolves around the sun, the economy revolves around the environment, not the reverse. Or are you a member of a crazy version of Christianity (is that redundant?) with a mindset of “let’s use it all up before our Messiah shows up again.”? If you are, this conversation is done.

  25. if you have a point to make, do share, cheap shots are a waste of time. American capitalism has been regulated, thank God. Things are looking kinda shaky lately though as wealth concentration is at an all time high, so I wouldn’t get too cocky.

    The only things we excel at are manufacturing weapons, hollywood movies, and one company designing awesome electronics.

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