Apple is a top-rated brand globally and is a champion for green technology. It strives to manufacture carbon-neutral products that are friendly to the environment. Apple plans to run its products and services on clean energy from the design phase to the usage.

Thus, Mac users can also adopt an eco-friendly way when it comes to using their Apple machines. You might be worrying about Malware and new updates while wasting energy. So, if you encounter any issue, you must clear it before it affects the system performance. Thus, it is essential to become aware of how you use your Mac every day. 

Our article highlights practical and easy methods users can embrace to reduce energy consumption and become eco-friendly. Follow the insights below and go green as a Mac user.

Save Energy

Even if you have free access to a power source, it does not mean that you leave your Mac with a bright screen and longer sleeping time. Make it a habit to activate the energy-saver feature under the system preferences. Your Mac has inbuilt features that save energy by performing specific actions that control inactive machines. For instance, you can set up the sleep mode after a few minutes of inactivity, or the system can switch off the display. Saving energy is a paramount aspect that helps you to become an eco-friendly Mac user.

Unplug Devices When Not In Use

Most users have many other devices plugged into their Mac. From external hard disks to USB flash drives or other tech components. One way of saving energy is to unplug the devices when you are using them. Make sure you use the device when you need to without leaving it on the machine.

Charge Your Mac Efficiently 

Many individuals forget to charge their machines fully, and thus, they end up plugging their Mac on the power source all the time. To avoid this habit, ensure you charge your laptop to full charge, unplug and use it until you drain off the charge.

Energy Saver Apps

Today, there are numerous energy-saving applications that Mac users can install on their machines. For instance, Lights Out and Power Manager are examples of energy saver apps with advanced features that help you save your Mac’s energy for an extended period. Therefore, you can research more and find one that works well with your device. 

Purchase New Keyboard and Mice

Since Apple is going green, it is investing in new environment-friendly products. Therefore, you can purchase new keyboards and mice that support the green technology. Moreover, avoid using CDs since they are not safe for the environment.  

Use The New Mac Monitor 

Mac users who still have the monitors with cathode-ray tubes should get new LCD monitors. Old monitors consume more energy; but, the new monitors conserve power, which helps users become eco-friendly. 

Buy A New Printer 

Old devices are energy inefficient and go against the green technology. Thus, Mac users should get new printers with advanced features that support the environment. Apart from consuming less energy, you can print your documents back-to-back and cut down on papers by a more significant percentage.

Moreover, the new models optimize the ink usage, and the availability of an EcoFont makes it friendly to the environment.

Reduce Computer Usage

Unless you have to use your computer, make a point of taking long breaks and embracing time-off away from electronic devices. You will save power and improve your health and wellness. Moreover, the environment will also be safe when you reduce computer usage.

Eco-Friendliness and Heavy Computer Use Are Combinable 

Mac users should implement the above tips to help them become more eco-friendlier. With Apple at the forefront in campaigning for clean energy, each user’s responsibility is to support the cause and embrace eco-friendly Mac usage.

The post A Mac User’s Guide to Becoming Eco-Friendlier appeared first on Green Prophet.

In the past, major software manufacturers had not been particularly known for their environmentally friendly track records. Firms such as Apple and Samsung have drawn attention from the public due to their sheer size, the availability of their phones through portals such as Broadband Choices and the probability that nearly everyone has used one or more of these devices in the past. So, have either of these companies taken on a “greener” approach in regards to their environmental policies? Let’s take a closer look.

The Changing Attitude of Apple

In the past, Apple was heavily criticised for its lack of acumen when it came to the environment. This company was particularly notorious for the amount of coal it utilised to power its servers as well as negative environmental impacts within China and Indonesia. These and other actions sparked obvious complaints from organisations such as Greenpeace. To the credit of Apple, some very real changes have occurred since this time.

For example, the company eliminated the use of arsenic and PVC within its smartphone displays as far back as 2008. Another notable improvement surrounds their use of fossil fuels. Apple began working in conjunction with a Chinese renewable energy firm with an intention to transform their energy usage so that its data centres would employ green sources of power. Although some of these actions can be attributed to the influence of Steve Jobs, many believe that corporate policies override any single individual.

Samsung: Environmentally Friendly or Not?

We should not at all be surprised that Samsung has likewise received its fair share of criticism. This is due in no small part that the company is the current global leader in terms of smartphone shipments. After having faced accusations of poor environmental policies and (much like Apple) a reliance upon coal, Samsung has sought to make some real changes since the middle half of the 2000s.

Samsung has been a member of the Energy Star conservation scheme for some time and its developers claim that the majority of their products now stand up to these rigid governmental guidelines. While this tends to apply to their selection of household appliances, there has also been some positive progress in relation to their line of smartphones.

One interesting example is the Samsung Galaxy S6. Not only has the company removed many of the harmful chemicals associated with older production models, but they have gone entirely “green” in regards to shipping methods. All containers are manufactured from recycled materials and even the labels themselves are printed with biodegradable soy ink as opposed to petroleum-based products. Their Samsung Galaxy chargers are made from recycled plastic and these power units themselves are designed to offer a longer lifespan between charges. This can help to lower the consumption of mains electricity over time.

Should We Judge Books by Their Covers?

There is no doubt that both of these firms have changed their policies in order to adapt to environmental regulations. Still, let’s keep in mind that big business is big business. Many of the rare-earth metals required to power the modern smartphone are extracted from the earth using extremely damaging techniques. Older phones are often discarded without following the proper guidelines. As these firms continue to expand, it is likely that their environmental impact will be felt around the world.

The main takeaway point is that both of these companies will have to strike a careful balance between continuing to satisfy the needs of their customers while simultaneously adhering to increasingly rigid environmental guidelines. And watch out for SnapChat Spy! 

The post Apple vs Samsung: who does more (if anything) to help the environment? appeared first on Green Prophet.

Despite our slight disdain for the overuse of the words green, eco, environmental and sustainable, we do applaud all the efforts Greenpeace does to educate consumers about greener shopping. Want to know what electronics companies you love such as Apple and Samsung are committed to doing to make their products greener? After the fires in California we see air pollution skyrocketing, and it’s not just forest fire smoke that puts us in harm’s way.

Think about all the burning e-waste, the materials, the metals, the compounds that would make your heart sink if you really knew what people were breathing.

Consider your next purchases as greener ones. Here’s a sum up of the Greenpeace green guide to electronics which you can download here (PDF) – with companies getting report card scores on parameters such as energy use, resource use, and use of chemicals.

The post Greenpeace’s ultimate guide to greening your electronics appeared first on Green Prophet.

Well, your mom has been teaching you wrong. The right way to eat an apple is not from its sides. There is another more complete way of eating an apple, a trick you need to teach the kids.

It’s a way to consume the whole apple, eating about 30 percent more of the apple – the entire apple.

I’ve seen outdoorsy men and past boyfriends doing this, and just the other day I thought to myself – there must be lots of tasty parts around that core that I am throwing away. There is another way!

Let’s start saving the Middle East by reducing food waste!

With autumn bringing a bounty of juicy apples to us in the Near East, this video how-to couldn’t have come at a better time. And if you really want to take your life hacking skills to a new level, learn how to de-seed your pomegranates using a wooden spoon here.

The post The Right Way to Eat an Apple (video) appeared first on Green Prophet.

Apple product releases are  delayed in the Mideast shortening the supported product life in this part of the world. Apple also practices planned obsolescence.

In an open letter to customers, Apple’s senior VP of hardware engineering admitted that it was a mistake to remove Apple products from the EPEAT environmental rating system. He writes:”We’ve recently heard from many loyal Apple customers who were disappointed to learn that we had removed our products from the EPEAT rating system. I recognize that this was a mistake. Starting today, all eligible Apple products are back on EPEAT.”

The Electronic Product and Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) is a voluntary environmental rating system for electronic products.  It was developed in 2003 as a collaborative effort between business, government and academic interests and helps define and measure such parameters as energy consumption, use of toxic materials, greenhouse gas emission, recycling efficiency and serviceability.

When Apple suddenly removed all of its iPhones, iPads and Macbooks from the EPEAT registry, it was the equivalent of an architectural firm suddenly saying it would would no longer look at LEED, BREEAM, Estidama or GSAS green building standards.  It went beyond mystifying, it was just plain stupid.  This isn’t just a green opinion, it was an immediate threat to Apple’s bottom line. When Apple dropped EPEAT, certain government agencies including the city of San Francisco and large companies such as Ford would stop buying Apple products.

Now that Apple has reversed its decision, anyone can search the EPEAT website and see some of the criteria which helped the 15 inch MacBook Pro earn a ‘Gold’ rating:

Retina Display MacBooks “Designed for End of Life”

Apple gets 5 out of 5 points here but they were right about one thing, EPEAT doesn’t tell the whole green story.  Notice particularly criteria 4-3.1.3 Easy disassembly of external enclosure and 4.3.1.7 Molded/glued in metal eliminated or removable.

According to the experienced technicians at iFixit, the 2012 Macbook’s Pro’s display and battery are glued into the aluminum case rendering it virtually unfixable.  You can forget about replacing or upgrading the RAM or hard drive too.

The RAM is soldered to the motherboard and the hard drive does not use an industry standard SATA connector.  Notice also that iPods, iPads and  iPhones do not appear on the EPEAT website.  The current generation are even less serviceable than the MacBooks.

Remember when batteries were replaceable?

Apple knows how to design serviceable products.  Last night I repaired the loose antenna inside my wife’s iPhone 3G using only a screwdriver, a suction cup and a bit of sticky tape.  My thirteen-year-old Apple Powerbook’s DVD drive, hard drive, RAM, battery, keyboard and individual keys can be replaced without any special tools.

Some lithium batteries only last about 300 charge cycles, less than a year of daily use.  So it is conceivable that my 1999 Powerbook will outlive these 2012 MacBooks.  Except that Apple recently obsoleted it with their iCloud service.  Software upgrades and cloud services should extend a device’s life, but Apple found a way for them to do the opposite.  Apple product releases are often delayed in the Mideast further shortening the supported product life in this part of the world.

Can a greenwashable standard keep my iDevice out of the iLandfill?

Apple topped Fortune magazine’s most respected company list for the past four years.  It has beautiful products and enviable market-share.  Sometimes it seems that Apple can do no wrong and yet they were not able to ignore even this weak environmental standard.  Perhaps there is a lesson here for all of us?

Consumers do care deeply about the environment and yet even the best available standard for green electronics overlooks the fact that the current generation of iPhones, iPads and MacBooks are designed to be disposable in as little as one year.

Apple may use green materials and contract with good product recyclers but think of the energy required to ship your device to Apple when a dead battery renders it useless.  Apple’s short-cycle planned-obsolescence violates the spirit of EPEAT standard, but they aren’t being evil.

Planned obsolescence is simply how Apple survives in our fast-paced economy where environmental standards are greenwashable and consumers are focused on “I” and “Now!”   Whether your next iDevice goes into a landfill or is recycled into a toilet seat, it is unlikely to have a long iLife unless consumers demand it.

Photo of Lego man fixing an iPhone by Brian Nitz
Photo of women with laptop via Shutterstock

The post Apple Admits Dropping EPEAT Eco Standard Was a Mistake appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Israeli government continues to process a bill that will regulate, for the first time, management of the country’s electronic waste. If it gets approved by the Knesset, the bill would require manufacturers to finance the proper recycling of their materials.

The bill would also stipulate that by 2020 it would be illegal to send electronic products that had not been recycled or reused to the regular landfill. Data from the Environmental Protection Ministry suggests that Israel produces 85,000 tones of electronic waste a year.

So far the private sector, such as the Israeli company Snunit Recycling, has filled the void in Israel’s recycling infrastructure, collecting and disassembling e-waste for recycling.

But such businesses have only scratched the surface of what is needed. Only 5% of all the e-waste produced in the Middle East is properly recycled, and most of that recycling occurs outside the region.

Amit Bracha, executive director of Israel Union for Environmental Defense (Adam Teva V’Din), referred to this bill as part of an Israeli “recycling revolution.”

But for those of us on the ground, we’ve already seen inspiring citizen involvement in stark contrast to the minimalist, mismanaged government recycling programs.

::Ynet

Image of repurposed imac via Wikimedia Commons

More E-Waste:

Cairo’s Fixers: Repairers That Are Helping Heal The Planet

Mountains of Toxic E-Waste in Pakistan Are a Goldmine

The (Imminent) Death Of My Laptop: E-Waste & The Middle East

The post Israel Introduces E-Waste Management Bill appeared first on Green Prophet.

It’s impossible and rude to speak for the dead, but we find it hard to believe that Steve Jobs would have wanted anything he designed covered in gold. But this is the Gulf and we’ve seen stranger things, including a white gold Mercedes and water bottles covered in swarovski crystals. Gold and Co. London will display their 24 carat gold-plated iPad3 at Damas Jewelry at the Dubai Mall, after which it will be auctioned for charity.

A hot item

Damas Jewelry will be the exclusive dealer of these elitist iPad 3s worth a cool $5,500. We don’t have money like that to burn, but apparently a substantial number of Emiratis have already placed their orders.

Last year’s gold iPad 2s sold out within 6 months, according to The National. We wonder if they are as disposable to oil-rich Emiratis as regular electronics are to the average American, if these are the same customers fighting to get their hands on the next generation?

In case it isn’t obvious, gold is one of the most scarce natural resources on earth.

The website Gold and Precious Metals estimates that only between 120,000 and 140,000 tonnes of gold – equivalent to less than the length of a tennis court has ever been produced. That’s it. And rich folk dare to cover tablets that will be obsolete within the year in this precious resource?

A marketing campaign?

Gold’s rarity is precisely what makes it so valuable, but until recently it was less expensive than platinum. According to a recent Forbes report, gold prices have surpassed those of platinum – something they call “really scary.”

The first golden iPad3 will be auctioned off and the proceeds donated to charity. Although somewhat laudable, this smacks like a tasteless marketing campaign for an obscenely-priced product launched at the expense of less privileged individuals.

The charities that will benefit from the proceeds have not yet been announced, nor has the auction date, The National reports.

Amjad Ali, Gold and Co’s CEO, is hopeful that they will sell at least 250 of their latest product. Other gold-encrusted electronics in their repertoire include the Blackberry 9000 and iPhone 4s (the latter sold for $4,349.)

Sigh. Our elders are probably rolling in their graves. Except the Pharaohs, who are placing their orders from the underworld.

:: The National

More on gold and other absurd news in the Gulf:

Abu Dhabi Solid Gold “Biofuel” Mercedes

Blingh20’s Most Expensive Water Costs $2,600 for 750ml

Coin-Covered Car “Recycles” Nearly $6,000 in Dubai

The post Absurd 24 Carat Gold-Plated iPads to Sell for $5,500 appeared first on Green Prophet.

Steven Paul Jobs finally met up against a challenge at age 56 that he simply could not overcome – pancreatic cancer. Now that he is being consigned to the annuls of history, and we at Green Prophet are writers of clean technology and environmental issues, it’s a good time to pause and think about what this one individual has done to further both of these subjects, clean technology and making the world’s environment better.

Considered to be the “creator of the first practical personal computer,” his real contributions to both clean technology and the environment came much later with the creation of devices like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. These devices alone, besides being extremely “user-friendly” and easy to carry around, have already resulted in the need for fewer personal computers, “lap tops” and other devices that require the use of more plastics, solvents and other chemicals, and metals that eventually find their way back into the earth when disposed of.

But perhaps Jobs’ greatest environmental contribution is to greatly reduce the need for paper in books, magazines and newspapers. His iPads, like their competitors such as the Kindle, enable people to have virtual libraries – “flip page” e-books in the memory storage of a device only 8 to 10 inches in length ( 20 – 25 cm) and 6-8 inches ( 15 – 20 cm) in width.

This may have caused reverberations within newspapers and book publishers, but in the end will result in saving perhaps millions of trees that go into making newsprint and book pages.

Like many other people who have made fortunes in the world of high technology, including former Microsoft head Bill Gates, Jobs has undoubtedly given large sums of money to causes that further our environment. But his devices that enable the use of virtual technology “in the palm of your hand” may go a lot further than many other efforts towards saving our forests.

Steven Jobs inspired many people during his relatively short lifetime of 56 years – the last 10 of which were involved in fighting the health issues that eventually felled him. His words of inspiration are still being shared by millions of people all over the globe.

One such bit of his wisdom came from an address he made at a graduation ceremony at Stanford University in 2005, when he was in the midst of his long and painful battle against a rare form of pancreatic cancer:

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma-which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

I think those words say it all. By the way, if you’re looking for links to other articles dealing with this great human being, you won’t find many – they’re not really needed.

Photo: Google Images

More and computers and their assistance in our personal environment:

Steve Jobs Tribute: A Legacy Environmentalists Can Learn From

Israel Researchers Create World’s First Brain to Computer Interaction

Turn Your iPad into an Interactive Cycling Sign With Sprocket App

The post Steven Jobs –– An Environmentalist And A Computer Genius appeared first on Green Prophet.

“No one wants to die,” Steve Jobs said in a speech to Stanford’s 2005 graduating class, “and yet it is the destination that we all share.” At 56, after struggling with pancreatic cancer for several years, Apple’s co-founder and lead visionary finally reached his destination. And though he once said that he didn’t care about being the richest person in the cemetery, he will be, not only because he is one of the world’s wealthiest people, but because his commitment to personal excellence has completely changed how millions of people from all walks of life interact with their personal computers, their telephones, and one another.

Steve Jobs did not revolutionize the animation and computing industry by feeling sorry for himself when he found out about his illness. When Apple, Inc. – the company that he co-founded after dropping out of college – fired him at 30, he did not give up and slink into oblivion. He kept going and founded NeXT. Nor did he dwell on the idea that his biological parents Abdulfattah Jandali – a Syrian man – and Joanne Simpson gave him up for adoption. Instead, the man behind the Macbook, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Pixar – the animation studio that delighted squealing children everywhere with Toy Story – persevered through his daily challenges with a determination and discipline that sometimes made him fearsome, but always with a focus on making the world a better place.

Steve Jobs broke the rules and shattered stoic conventions, and he did it all with heart. We at Green Prophet are very sad to lose such an inspirational figure, and promise to honor his legacy by striving to heal the planet’s health with the same courage, dignity, and clarity of purpose that this well-loved husband, father, and mentor displayed every single day. “I want to put a ding in the universe,” Steve once said. I think we can all agree that he has definitely done just that.

The post Steve Jobs Tribute: A Legacy Environmentalists Can Learn From appeared first on Green Prophet.