A Greener Apple

I thought it would be useful to post on a topic in green design that I find interesting. I'm a computer guy so I'm only talking about Apple computers, but there are many more topics/products out there. Feel free to post your own in the comments or in another post.

Apple had come under criticism from a few environmental groups about toxic materials in their products. In order to reduce the harmful impact of their products, Apple removed a lot of toxic chemicals, introduced LED backlit computer screens, made a majority of the computer recyclable and reduced packaging for the new MacBooks. These changes affect the amount environmental impact not only in the use cycle of the computer, but in the manufacturing, transportation stages of the computer's life.

But are these changes enough? Or are they even doing something? A Wall Street Journal article posted at the end of last year questioned how green Apple really is. Is this just "green-washing" or are they making a difference? Both?

Whether or not Apple is as green as they say, it would be hard to argue that building and design standards are taking environmental impacts into account. Whether it is solely more profitable for a company to reduce the packaging and manufacturing steps or because of a philosophical belief, it bodes well for everyone.

Green Things

I enjoyed Steve Glenn's presentation on the design and creative aspects involved with being more ecologically responsible this morning. At heart I’m really a design guy; I love when things work well and look nice. I believe that there doesn’t need to be a tradeoff between performance, functionality, aesthetics, and the environment. As we saw with LivingHomes, these aspects can come together to create beautiful products.

As I was checking the news tonight, I came across a nice piece in Business Week about some popular green products. What really got me to the site was that the Macbook Air was the first product mentioned. When the Air was announced back at Macworld, a lot of emphasis was put on its design and how it is less intensive on the environment. Some examples include: LED backlighting (no fluorescents or mercury in the display) and 50% less packaging (Apple packaging is an art in itself).

There are other nice products listed in the piece (Umbra compostable trash can, I’m looking at you) and a smart power meter for your home. We’ll learn a lot about DSM next week, but a substantial savings in energy (and money) can be achieved by knowing when electricity is more expensive to generate. These are just a few products and examples. Check it out!