Apple has long taken flak from environmental groups who believe that its pioneering, independent, and intelligent image should extend to the way it handles its social and environmental responsibilities. Apple has a strong commitment to social responsibility, but groups like Greenpeace have long shaken their collective fists at Apple for not instituting a comprehensive recycling program or e-waste return program to properly dispose of the millions of iPods, Macs, MacBooks and PowerBooks, and more that are disposed of every year.

Well, Steve Jobs has had enough, and promised that Apple would make a change and make a real commitment to be a better corporate steward of the environment and the environmental resources that it uses and disposes of in the future. Similarly, Apple’s current environmental programs have been all but hidden from well-meaning environmental protection organizations, and Apple acknowledges that it clearly needs to do better to communicate these and future steps. Taken from Steve Jobs’ blog post at Apple.com:

Apple has been criticized by some environmental organizations for not being a leader in removing toxic chemicals from its new products, and for not aggressively or properly recycling its old products. Upon investigating Apple’s current practices and progress towards these goals, I was surprised to learn that in many cases Apple is ahead of, or will soon be ahead of, most of its competitors in these areas. Whatever other improvements we need to make, it is certainly clear that we have failed to communicate the things that we are doing well.

It is generally not Apple’s policy to trumpet our plans for the future; we tend to talk about the things we have just accomplished. Unfortunately this policy has left our customers, shareholders, employees and the industry in the dark about Apple’s desires and plans to become greener. Our stakeholders deserve and expect more from us, and they’re right to do so. They want us to be a leader in this area, just as we are in the other areas of our business. So today we’re changing our policy.

…

Today is the first time we have openly discussed our plans to become a greener Apple. It will not be the last. We will be providing updates of our efforts and accomplishments at least annually, most likely around this time of the year. And we plan to bring other environmental issues to the table as well, such as the energy efficiency of the products in our industry. We are also beginning to explore the overall carbon “footprint” of our products, and may have some interesting data and issues to share later this year.

I hope you are as delighted as I was when I first learned how far along Apple actually is in removing toxic chemicals from its products and recycling its older products. We apologize for leaving you in the dark for this long. Apple is already a leader in innovation and engineering, and we are applying these same talents to become an environmental leader. Based on our tangible actions and results over time, hopefully our customers, employees, shareholders and professional colleagues will all feel proud of our ongoing efforts to become a greener Apple.

In between that innocuous “…” is the meat of Steve’s discussion, where he compares Apple’s efforts to properly dispose of its environmentally hazardous waste and to develop systems that are more environmentally friendly, materials conscious, and energy efficient to those of Apple’s competitors, and Steve goes on to trumpet Apple’s future plans to make the world a better place. It’s all pretty fuzzy and warm, and Apple’s actions will speak louder than its words, but there’s no reason to assume that Apple won’t follow through on its promises – Apple, so far, hasn’t made a habit of telling its stakeholders and public that it is planning to do something and then turn around and not do it. Apple recently announced plans to replace the LCDs in its portable computers with LED backlighting, which is more energy efficient and environmentally concious, another point that Steve made in his blog post. Looks like he’s already making a point to follow through on his words.

[ Apple :: A Greener Apple ]