About a week or so ago Apple decided that they would withdraw from EPEAT's green certification program. The theory was Apple's own standards for environmental standards was, to quote the Krusty the Klown seal of approval, "our program is not just good, it's good enough."
Enviro-Peeps did not take the news kindly and the city of San Francisco swiftly tossed Apple out of their purchasing program as apparently EPEAT certification is a must have for participation. Apple was besieged by so much negative hype the company made a rare backtrack and is coming back into the good grace of EPEAT.
Never mind the fact some Apple products are engineered in such a way that they cannot follow EPEAT standards or that Apple itself has a standards program for recycling. Apple is now falling prey to the pressure of non-business related special interests who feel the standard they set is more important then innovation the manufacturer creates.
This story would be different if Apple neither cared nor supported environmentally responsible handling of their products after use. They do. All this does is create a situation where a business acting responsibly no longer can solve their own issues but instead has to coddle a third party that makes a living setting standards to give themselves purpose.
No way Steve Jobs makes this move and it seems ridiculous that Tim Cook is. Apple does not need EPEAT and if San Francisco does not want to buy their gear because they are not part of a third party group that creates no value than that's SF's problem. Stick to your principles and be proud of your solution.
Hawk
Apple Gives In To Green Pressure
