Apple's New Recycling Program is OK, But Its Clean Energy Program Deserves Headlines

Solar panels at an Apple data center in NC

Other than giving the world a better gadget, Apple icon Steve Jobs never had much interest in improving conditions for humans or our habitat. But this week, Apple is finally rolling out an Apple product recycling program. The question is, will it do much good that isn't being done already?

I was getting rid of an iPod Touch last year and found there are already plenty of trade-in and buyback programs through places like Amazon and Best Buy, and I got significantly more than either of those offered by wiping the data and selling it myself on Craigslist. It's good Apple is giving folks another option, but I'm assuming Apple plans to refurbish & resell what they're taking back from customers at a tidy profit.

Apple deserves much more credit for what it's doing on clean energy. A recent Greenpeace report gave Apple the top score on powering the internet with clean energy, edging out Amazon and Facebook. Meanwhile, Amazon and Twitter flunked for their heavy reliance on dirty coal and fracked natural gas.