Let's take another look at the
iPad - is it really green? Is it a "planet saver?"
Matthew Wheeland, GreenBiz.com, has some really good insights. In
Will Apple's Tablet Save the Earth? Don't Hold Your Breath, he notes discussions that imply going digital - i.e., going iPad - could not only eliminate the toxic materials, electricity, and transport in diesel burning trucks that result from buying physical CDs but also have the same impact on the print world. Somehow digital is better than physical, bits are better than atoms...
In other words, there is hope out there that the tablet could save the planet.
Wheeland points out that the real problem is that production of electronics has a huge environmental impact. Precious and rare metals are used to build them, global supply chains (and the associated transportation) bring the materials to manufacturers and the gadgets to market, and there is energy used during the product lifetime.
Then there is the problem of "end-of-life." We throw away far more electronic gadgets than we should and even those organizations that have "take back" programs don't have a good place to collect, reuse, or recyle what's discarded.
To Wheeland, the biggest problem is that the tablet will be an
addition not a
replacement. In other words, more electronic stuff compounding all the impacts.
A follow-on post,
Apple's new iPad is Deep Green, but a Planet-Saver? Nope, Wheeland reported on the green elements of the iPad that Steve Jobs called out:
- Arsenic-free
- Mercury-free
- BFR-free
- PVC-free
- "Highly recyclable"
In Wheeland's opinion, "It's still a resource-intensive gadget that will be an add-on rather than a replacement."
So coolness aside, how green IS the iPad?
