Tell Steve Jobs to Recycle His iWaste

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and the Computer Take Back Campaign are launching a campaign to get Apple to recycle their products. Sign the petition here.

Thanks to the soaring sales of its hip iPods, Apple and Steve Jobs are set to make a bundle of cash in 2005. Amidst all the celebration and excitement about the iPods, Jobs isn't revealing his dirty little secret about them. The sleek music players contain poisonous lead and other highly toxic materials that can cause damage to our brains and reproductive and nervous systems. Once the little music machines become obsolete, they are dumped into landfills or shipped overseas as electronic scrap. Their toxins leach into our air, land, and water and send poisons into our communities. Especially vulnerable are the children in developing countries who pick through the wastes to find parts to sell.

Steve Jobs should do more than celebrate his profits. He should live up to his good reputation and take responsibility for Apple's iWaste. He should harness the company's resources to produce toxic-free iPods and to recycle the millions of obsolete Apple computers that can poison our communities with over 36 million pounds of lead. Up to now, Jobs has chosen another course. His company has no effective program to recycle discarded computers or iPods nor has it eliminated many toxins in its products. It opposes legislation to recycle electronic waste and produce cleaner machines. Batteries for iPods that fizzle out after a year or two and which are difficult and expensive to replace are Apple's most recent addition to the growing toxic iWaste mass. It's time for Jobs to take another approach.