A controversy broke out when Apple announced that “its Mac Books are the World’s Greenest”. The claim was countered by rival Dell which has a stake in the claim of “Green Products”.
The dispute was referred to NAD “National Advertising Division of the Council for Better Business Bureaus. It was then decided that Apple should drop its claim to the superlative and in the same breath added that others did not have a comparative rating for all categories of “note books”.
This is similar to simultaneously saying two things. That Apple should drop its claim and at the same time saying the others are not as green as Apple in the range of Mac Books.
The reason for this controversy is not far to look. The main one that comes to my mind is lack of sincerity in ensuring and implementing Green “Standards”. It is when implementing authorities lack sincerity it gives rise to competitive greenness and loop holes are exploited.
The root cause of the problem is EPEAT “Electronic Product Environmental Assesment Tool”. It lays down standards for conformation to and awards the products Gold, Bronze or Silver. The problem is companies have learned to get around the rating by showing more number of the same model to be rated with minor variation and bagging more gold than they are worth. Toshiba with maximum number of gold is an example of this. It seems Sony and Samsung are not far behind.
If only the Governments were as conscious as the people are of environmental friendliness Apple would not have been put to this discomfiture.
