New Macbook Pro Falls Short of Steve Jobs’ Green Promise

In October, Steve Jobs issued this statement in response to Greenpeace’s call to stop using toxic PVC plastic and brominated flame retardants:

Last year we announced the unprecedented goal of eliminating polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from Apple products by the end of 2008. I’m proud to report that all of Apple’s new product designs are on track to meet our 2008 year-end goal.

As it turns out, Macworld came around and this promise has been broken. And Greenpeace is pissed.

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“That’s a pretty definitive statement - not much room for misunderstanding there, I’d say,” reads a release from Greenpeace. “And yet the one new product announced so far at this year’s Macworld, the Macbook Pro, turns out not to meet Mr Jobs’ new greener specification; sure it has reduced amounts of the offending chemicals, but they’ve not been removed altogether. Definitely NOT what Apple promised for 2009.”

What happened, Apple? These chemicals are disastrous for the people in developing countries who end up dismantling these products 20 years down the line. However, Apple is not alone in their environmental disdain. After five years of requests from Greenpeace, not a single major computer manufacturor has changed their ways.

Some other electrical products have been made a bit greener, but in the end, buying used electronics is always a better choice for the planet.

Image courtesy of Apple

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