Today I read Apple’s Environment Responsibility Report 2018¹. I’m amazed how detailed it is, how readable, understandable and exemplary it is. It’s not just a official report that is necessary.

Instead, they chose to make it great for everyone and use it as marketing instrument.

Instead, they chose to make it great for everyone and use it as marketing instrument. And I like that because it makes the resource available to so many more people who might be interested in these numbers. It has an impact to other companies who see how Apple is successful with their strategy and that putting effort into renewable energy and recycling is valued by customers.

When I bought my recent MacBook Pro I was thinking it’s the best option environment-wise. I’m not 100% sure at the moment because after only 5 months, my keyboard had to be replaced which included a new battery, keyboard, USB ports and much more (they’re all glued together). I think that’s not good and they could do better. Today I reached out to Apple’s head of Environment Responsibility and asked for a statement regarding that. I also think the push to always buy the latest new iPhone is extremely bad for our environment and Apple contributes to this problem a lot.

But overall they’re still one of the best options if you want to buy environment friendly electronics. Apple is far from being a really responsible, enviromentally non-impacting company but if you buy electronics, chances are high you won’t get anything better.²

… it’s generally a good idea to make the most of what you need to do anyway.

Back to the Environment Report itself: I think the design of it and how it’s written is a great example of combining necessary effort and making use of this as informative marketing material. Most companies split these kind of things but it’s generally a good idea to make the most of what you need to do anyway.