Apple Computers, Sustainability, and the Road Ahead

New Apple computers out today. They look marvelous, as usual, but I once again find myself in the uncanny valley of the young, hip, cagey environmentalist, the emotional spot between longing and disgust. Apple has been working their asses off to improve the environmental impact of their products. They offer arsenic free glass, all alluminum computers (except the ones that aren't, theyre polycarbonate now), theyve eliminated a lot of PCB's, etc. But I still have trouble justifying new purchases within the context of my current lifestyle. I work my damnedest to get things used, second hand, make them myself, etc. But unfortunately, some things don't really work that way. I am within a few weeks of purchasing a new EEE PC Netbook, something I know will increase my impact on the planet. It is, however, something I need for practical reasons. Once I have the computer I will own 2 laptops (my first gen Macbook is my dearest love, it will soon be my media center. It is being retired from road life because its a bit heavy) and a desktop (my Hackintosh baby witha 24" monitor, I'm working on transitioning it over from EFIX to one of the community sourced Hackintosh projects). Add in the iPhone, the Kindle, the Xbox 360, the iPod Touch, the nintendo DS, and the computer I use at work, and you realize I'm in a tech saturated environment. I love my technology, but it clashes with my beliefs about sustainability.

Now, Apple is pretty forward thinking, they're doing their best to please Greenpeace, even providing environmental impact assesments that include the entire life of their products (I'm assuming its guesswork, since they can't know how often individual users will use their products). That said, they still buy most of their parts from China, and then assemble them in the USA. Flying things from China to California and then shipping them out to Maryland adds up to a lot of carbon. I suppose I'll worry about that next year when I'm looking at my next big computer purchase. I wonder how easiy it is to purchase carbon offsets, and whether there are any legitimate purveyors in the area (I'd prefer to plant local trees, after all!).

The problem this presents to me is applicable to the larger global economy. How can sustainably minded people stay on top of the technology out there without hurting the planet? At the moment, there isn't an option. Just as those of us who rent are out of luck when it comes to taking advantage of solar power resources. That said, the fact that these companies are responding so quickly to pressure from Greenpeace (probably due to their attempts to win marketshare with the 20-something market, a notably fickle group or consumers) means that they are attempting to make their operations as environmentally friendly as possible. Unfortunately, certain substances in computers are simply and unavoidably volatile, which is where recycling comes in, I suppose. Still, if I'm purchasing a new computer, there's a good chance a number of products inside of it came from poorly regulated mines in 3rd world countries, and its hard to know how to get around that issue. The fact is, I believe sustainability is about more than just carbon emissions. We have to look at the overall impact of our purchases on other people, waterways, soil, etc. Some industries are inherently tied to resources which are difficult to acquire. Even solar cell manufacturers run into supply issues (one of the best reasons for concentrated solar power generation), so how do we resolve this problem with computers and cellphones?

It appears its something we have to engineer our way out of. If pressure from Greenpeace can get apple to pick up after itself and make marginal improvements, I believe it would be possible to start pressuring companies into engineering products to use as few caustic ingredients as possible, rely on recycled materials when possible, and find replacements for the substances that are most environmentally detrimental. Only then will I be able to take that simple joy in buying a computer again.