Lisa Jackson Earth Day

Lisa Jackson, right, at an Earth Day event in Harlem (photo by Jennifer Cooper / greenforall.org via Flickr.com)


by Amber Zhai

As the consumer electronics industry continues to grow and the number of people who have access to electronic gadgets continues to rise, there is also a steadily increasing expectation from both policymakers and consumers for companies to implement greener corporate strategies. However, while environmental awareness within the electronics sector is undeniably improving, the rate of consumption is still rapidly outpacing the speed of collection, generating huge amounts of un-recycled e-waste each year.

Pressure of Publicity

Organizations such as Greenpeace further encourage electronics companies to go green by evaluating them in terms of their environmental responsibility and publicly publishing their findings. This type of informative publicity both increases consumer awareness and puts pressure on companies to introduce innovation into their policies and practices in addition to their products.

The 18th edition of Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics ranked leading consumer electronics companies based on three main environmental criteria: Energy and Climate, Greener Products, and Sustainable Operations. It placed Wipro, an Indian electronics company, in first position for its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, placing energy-efficient products in the market, and collecting and recycling post-consumer e-waste.

Apple, which was ranked sixth in the Greenpeace Guide, recently proved its commitment to getting greener by hiring former administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lisa Jackson as its new VP for environmental initiatives. Ranked high for the energy efficiency of its devices but low for disclosures of GHG emissions and product life cycle, Apple announced this year that it plans to power its facilities entirely through renewable energy. These efforts perhaps serve as promising implications that environmental friendliness is becoming as important to a company’s reputation as anything else.

Get Paid for Recycling E-Scrap

While electronics companies should be held responsible for their practices, we as consumers must do our part for the environment as well. Send your old cell phones, hard drives and motherboards to Cash for Electronic Scrap USA—we’ll recycle them responsibly, and you’ll get a check in the mail. For more information about the process, visit CashForElectronicScrapUSA.com today.