Green Laptops!!

Great news this week for green travelers and all others needing computers -- Apple has launched new laptops with environmental standards, claiming to be “the Greenest MacBooks ever.” They not only meet the government’s Energy Star criteria, but they have earned EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) Gold, an electronics industry top environmental standard.

They have figured out how to reduce packaging by 40% and at the end of the day – or life -of your Mac, they claim that most of your computer can be recycled.
Designing the computer so that most or all of its components can be recycled is great if not somewhat overdue and obvious. The really big news is that the new LED displays use thirty percent less power than standard LCD screens, and the smart computer figures out the most energy efficient processor for the task, further reducing electric use – so much so that Apple says “when it’s turned on, the new MacBook uses one-quarter the power of a single light bulb.” Wow.

The most important elements to me in these new Macbooks are the elimination of toxic metals and chemicals. The screen glass is arsenic-FREE, and the whole computer is FREE of Mercury!, brominated flame retardants (polar bears will be happy), and PVC plastics. Apple has also removed these highly toxic components from their iPods and other products as well. YAY!

These are milestones. Mercury and Arsenic (see posts about the health hazards on http://alternativehealthguides.blogspot.com) should not be used period. It is wonderful that Apple has smelled the mercury and arsenic-free roses. Let’s hope other manufacturers follow suit.

You can visit Small Dog Electronics, a groovy, family-run business in Waitsfield, Vermont supporting environmental and social justice organizations, for the new Green MacBooks, or of course any Apple retailer -- http://www.smalldog.com