Well that’s according to Greenpeace, who all but lost their credibility during their pitched battle with Steve Jobs – a quick look at the comments section shows what even their readers think of their persistent Apple bashing.

The new Mac Books now don’t contain mercury or arsenic which is a great start whilst the circuit boards and connectors etc are free of the usual bromine or PVCs. They still do contain cadmium  beryllium and antimon – I figured this simply because their removal is not indicated in any marketing information from Apple.

Apple have also published the Mac Book’s Carbon Footprint for the first time. Apple have included customer usage with this calculation in addition to the manufacturing of the unit. A Mac Book’s Carbon Footprint is about 1000 lbs of Carbon Dioxide, however, about 400 lbs of this is attributed to its usage.

It’s conceivable that a consumer might use their Mac Book wholly from renewable energy, say for example, their home electricity might be run through wind power or solar panels on their roof. Including a substantial ‘usage’ estimate into the mix is a good way of sharing the footprint blame with their customers  (while sharing the love of the Mac Book too).

Trade 2 save measures the Carbon Footprint differently. We don’t include usage estimates but base the Carbon Footprint on manufacturing, raw materials, transportation and the toxicity of none recyclable components.

Of course the greenest computer you can buy is a pre-owned one because you are not adding demand for a new one to be manufactured for you. And to make it greener still, don’t let it lie idly in your cupboard when you have finished using it, trade it in for an upgrade before it becomes obsolete – you’ll save money whilst saving the environment too.