Greenpeace Ranks Green Gadgets at CeBit

The greener gadgets movement is certainly getting traction with conferences, competitions, news items, and CSR Green Maps boosting awareness. But according to Greenpeace, manufacturers still have a long way to go to eliminate hazardous substances from computers and mobile phones to make them more energy efficient. However, there are some companies who are taking the environmental impacts of their products seriously.

The Greenpeace Electronics Survey, published at the CeBIT information technology fair the other week, ranked the Sony Vaio TZ11 notebook, the Sony Ericsson T650i mobile phone and the Sony Ericsson P1i PDA as the greenest of the land. The results were based on their testing of 37 products submitted by 14 brands.

Greenpeace has been releasing an Electronics Guide since 2006, which ranked 18 top manufacturers of personal computers, mobile phones, TV’s and games consoles according to their policies on toxic chemicals and recycling. The purpose of this latest survey was “to test company’s promises” and to see whether they are actually making products available on the market. Sony Ericsson definitely did: they were ranked first in the last Guide. Meanwhile Microsoft and Nintendo came in at the very bottom of that scale. Interestingly, neither company entered any products for the latest survey. Hmm….

At CeBit, a Greenpeace toxics campaigner also called out the Nokia Evolve and the MacBook Air as newer, greener products to have hit the market since their testing. It’s interesting to note that their December 2006 Electronics Guide had Nokia and Apple in first and last places, respectively. They also have an entire section of their site to Apple and created the iPoison + iWaste campaign. It seems the Jobsian giant has stepped up to the plate. Nokia’s N95, meanwhile, ranked as the second greenest mobile phone in the current survey.

Greenpeace has been pushing the “Green IT” movement for awhile now through awareness campaigns and lots (and lots) of rankings, surveys, etc. At CeBit, though, activists went a little bit guerrilla, erecting a giant robot made from electronic components at the entrance of the world’s largest electronics fair. The protest was supposed to remind the industry leaders that it cannot continue to ignore the mountain of toxic waste coming from their products nor the serious environmental impacts and human health consequences.

“It’s not enough just to offer a green computer for the tree-huggers. Environmentally friendly devices must become a general trend and dominate mass production,” said one Greenpeace rep. Indeed, it’s more than just tree-huggers who want to buy green. Eco-consciousness has gone mainstream, and it will become increasingly important for electronics brands to focus on reducing waste and toxins if they want to succeed as a 21st generation company.

Related on PSFK:
The Space of eWaste
John Grant: Waking Up to Green Innovation
Core77’s Greener Gadgets Design Competition