Steve Jobs just finished giving they keynote speech at the MacWorld 2008 conference, where he unveiled the super-sexy new Macbook Air (check Gizmodo for more techie coverage). So, besides the fact that this computer looks totally gorgeous, it is also a serious GREEN MACHINE.
The ecofriendly stats, from Jobs’ speech:
-It’s got an aluminum case, which makes it easy to recycle
-Mercury- and Arsenic-free display
-The circuit boards are PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and BFR (bromine) free
-Less packaging waste; packaging was reduced by 56%
-It’s as skinny as it looks: 0.76 inches at the thickest part, and just 0.16 inches at the thinnest. It’s so slim Jobs slid it inside one of those manila office envelopes. And not very heavy either, which makes it light on your shoulders when you have to lug it around all day, and also costs less in CO2 emissions to ship to you from California.
Why don’t we want this stuff in our computers? Because when they are eventually trashed, all the nasty crap gets into our air (if garbage is incinerated) and water (if it’s landfilled). And making PVC, especially, also poisons the air.
Mercury: There is no safe level of mercury exposure according to the WHO and the UN, especially for young women; mercury can cause neurological problems in developing fetuses, and it is stored in the body, so it can harm a developing child even years after exposure)
Arsenic: Uh, it’s a poison. Didn’t you read “Flowers in the Attic”?
PVC is known as “The Poison Plastic”; it causes immune system problems, cancer, and disrupts hormones. It is one of the plastics scientist believe cause baby boys to hormonally become more feminized.
Bromine is a carcinogen. It’s especially interesting that they eliminated BVR after Apple fought Greenpeace tooth and nail in the media trying to say bromine was OK to use in the iPhone)
Congratulations and applause all-around to Apple for making good on all their promises to make their computers and peripherals more eco-friendly.
Thanks to Chris Baskind for showing me the sexy green!
You can find it under the following topic(s): Shopping, Technology, Toxins.
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hello Starre,
I’m sure there is another way for me to contact you on this site but I am being laze and posting here…
I met you at two consecutive “green drinks” in Fairfield County. I have some videos I wnated to talk to you about posting so please hit me back!
January 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pmI’m wondering if the whole computer is PVC-free?
if so, I think that is really a huge accomplishment and I think Greenpeace deserves some of the credit for Apple’s achievement. They started publishing this guide to greener electronics and it really changed the way industry sourced materials. I am a huge fan of my macbook, thanks for this post on Macair!
January 18th, 2008 at 1:20 pmBwahahahahaha- flowers in the attic. Love it. You made me laugh out loud this morning. Thanks for info and morning perk.
January 25th, 2008 at 8:28 am[...] to have moved Apple in a greener direction lately. Evidence of the shift is the description of how green the MacBook Air is in Steve Job’s keynote announcement. I doubt pressure from the Bush administration had much [...]
February 21st, 2008 at 12:46 am[...] credentials aren’t bad at all. Here are a few eco-friendly facts about the Macbook Air from Eco-Chick Starre Vartan’s blog post on the subject: It’s got an aluminum case, which makes it easy to [...]
June 28th, 2008 at 3:44 am