As part of its goal to become completely carbon neural, Apple says that 175 of its suppliers will transition to using renewable energy, more than double the number that had previously committed to using 100% clean power.
It’s part of the Mac-maker’s plan to be carbon neutral across its supply chain and products by 2030.
Apple performed more accountability audits on its workforce last year that it ever has before, the company has revealed in its 10th annual Supplier Responsibility progress report that highlights the company’s efforts to improve working conditions for all people in its supply chain.
By zeroing in on the amount of hours employees are working, the iPhone-maker’s work-hour compliance rating hit an all-new high, and Apple was able to recoup $4.7 million in excessive recruitment fees for foreign contract workers.
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple CEO Tim Cook is urging competitors to copy Apple in the fight against climate change.
Speaking today at the BoxWorks 2015 conference at Moscone Center here, Cook said Apple’s rivals should copy its efforts to run their operations entirely on renewable energy.
“We are very focused on the environment,” he said. “Climate change is real, and we should stop denying it.”
Tim Cook stepped up as the CEO of Apple on August 24, 2011. The soft-spoken Southerner, who has worked at the Cupertino company since 1998, had previously acted as interim CEO when Steve Jobs stepped down to battle cancer.
Cook’s ascent to the permanent CEO position marked a sea change for Apple. Once called the stage manager to Jobs’ star, he’s now running the show. After endless speculation about whether Cook’s rule marked the end of Apple or signaled a bright new era, going by the numbers, it looks like he’s earned a solid B.
Here’s a look at his first three years as the head of Apple, a job he got paid $4.25 million to perform in 2013.
Although the environmental group she heads up is “pleased” about the improvements Apple announced to protect workers from toxic chemicals, activist Elizabeth O’Connell still won’t buy the Cupertino company’s products.
Even if it means making those phone calls to rally support against Apple on an iPhone with a cracked screen.
“I am very happy that Apple has taken these steps and that the company is listening to its customers,” the campaign director for Green America told Cult of Mac via email. “That said, I’m going to hold on to my cracked 5c for now. I’d like for Apple to deepen its commitment to worker health and safety throughout its supply chain before I consider purchasing any new Apple products.”
The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) “evaluates the environmental impact of a product based on how recyclable it is, how much energy it uses, and how it’s designed and manufactured.” For years, Apple has been one of the EPEAT’s key supporters, with many of the Cupertino company’s computers earning the highest ratings in the industry.
As one of the biggest proponents of green technology and environment friendly packaging, it’s a tad shocking that Apple itself is withdrawing its 39 products from the EPEAT. This means that none of the company’s products technically meet the industry’s green standard anymore. Many large companies, educational institutions, and the U.S. federal government require computers to come with an EPEAT certification, meaning a large portion of the enterprise and education sectors could be barred from purchasing Apple products now.
Apple has responded to concerns from environmental activist groups in China by meeting with The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) in Beijing. IPE has called the gesture a “positive sign” that Apple is attentive to environmental concerns regarding its suppliers overseas.
According to Macworld, IPE and other groups have accused Apple of using Chinese manufacturers that pollute the environment, even going so far as to say that such manufacturers are responsible for a rise in cancer rates among locals.
Help plant a tree to offset carbon emissions from your iPhone or iPod is the green idea behind AcornHq, a London-based company.
The brainchild of a couple of New Zealand transplants, John and Sarah Lewis, the company asks 20 Apple device owners to give $3.50 per device — iPhone or current and older iPods — to plant a tree to counteract the effects on the environment from manufacture and use.
Those oak trees take root on a New Zealand planting farm, where Lewis hopes Acorn donors willing to trek that far will be able to visit soon.
After the jump, details on how it works from John Lewis.
