Take My Computer Back!

As noted in the Green Guide 99 article "Computers: Passing Grade," The United States lags behind the European Union and Japan in requiring manufacturer "take-back" of old computers and in banning certain hazardous substances from computer manufacture entirely. European computers (and other electrical goods), by July 2006, will have no lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, or the brominated fire retardants PBDE and PBB. By August 2005, European manufacturers will be required to take back, treat, recycle or recover, and dispose of their electrical and electronic goods for free. Japan is also progressive in requiring take-back and disclosure of chemicals used in manufacture.

Take Action

While the U.S. regulatory environment isn't conducive to similar requirements, you can still exert pressure on your favorite computer company to bring its practices up to European, Japanese, and other international standards. You should also approach the person who sets purchasing guidelines at your company—an order for 10 or 100 toxin-free, sound-practice computers means that much more than an order for 1. Remind the computer company that they are already offering sound products for sale abroad—double standards due to international regulatory differences are near-hypocritical—and that you base your buying decisions in whole or in part on an environmental basis. Sending the following letter to your computer company would be a good first step (see "More Information" for corporate addresses):

Dear _______,

I am a satisfied customer: I own __________________ and would be happy to purchase a newer model in the future. However, I am concerned about the environment and about the financial and environmental costs of manufacturing and disposing of such heavy, often toxic equipment. The European Union recently required computer companies to fund take-back and safe disposal of their equipment and to eliminate lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, and certain brominated fire retardants. I'd be an even more loyal customer if you'd follow their lead in aiding safe disposal and bring the safer computers you'll be making for their market to the U.S. You've already paid for the engineering—why not share your results with the world? I hope, for example, that you will phase out lead-containing cathode ray tubes and lead solder in circuit boards, that you will make all your appliances Energy Star compliant, that you will eliminate all brominated fire retardants, that you will stop using PVC. Your policies should be driven by what is technologically feasible and environmentally sound, not by the minimum requirements of a given market—these advanced, healthy computers will sell themselves. I am confident in your efforts, and I look forward to continue doing business with you.

Sincerely,

________

More information:

While the above letter can serve as a basic template, your letter will be much better if you target it to your specific company, mentioning their current products and policies by name. After all, computer companies tend to be at least somewhat environmentally responsible, if only for show, and it's worth congratulating them for those innovations they have made as well as criticizing them for those they have not or have not disclosed. Gateway, for example, lists certain of its environmental policies (www.gateway.com/about/corp_responsibility/environment.shtml), but its self-reporting is notably incomplete. And indeed, Gateway receives a badly failing grade on the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition's 2002 Report Card. Look over the Report Card. Then surf the company's web site, or call and ask about its policies, before writing your letter. The more research you do, the more they company will pay attention to what you have to say.

Below is a list of the major computer companies' CEOs, environmental pages, and their mailing addresses:

Acer
Stan Shih
www.acer.com
Acer America (USA only)
2641 Orchard Parkway
San Jose, CA 95134
Phone: (408) 432.6200

Apple
Steve Jobs
www.apple.com/about/environment/
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 996.1010

Brother
www.brother.com/brother_En/environment_e/index.html
BROTHER INDUSTRIES (U.S.A.) INC.
7819N, Brother Blvd. Bartlett, TN 38133
Phone: (901) 377-7777

Canon
Fujio Mitarai
www.canon.com/environment/
One Canon Plaza, Lake Success, NY 11042, U.S.A.
Phone: (516) 328-5000

Compaq
Michael Capellas
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/corporate/ehss/
Hewlett-Packard
3000 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185
Phone: (650) 857-1501

Dell
Michael Dell
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/environment/en/index?c=us&l=en&s=corp
Dell Inc.
One Dell Way
Round Rock, Texas 78682
United States
Phone: (888) 560-8324

Epson (Seiko Epson)
John Lang (Epson America)
www.epson.co.jp/e/community/environmental_responsibility.htm
3840 Kilroy Airport Way
Long Beach, CA 90806
Phone: (562) 981-3840

Fujitsu
Akio Hanada
http://eco.fujitsu.com/
New York Representative Office
733 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017 USA
Phone: (212) 599-9800

Gateway
Ted Waitt
www.gateway.com/about/corp_responsibility/environment.shtml
14303 Gateway Place
Poway, California 92064
phone: (858) 848 3401

Hewlett-Packard
Carleton (Carly) Fiorina
www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/index.html
3000 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185 USA
Phone: (650) 857-1501

Hitachi
Shigeharu Mano (Hitachi America)
http://greenweb.hitachi.co.jp/en/index.html
Hitachi America, Ltd., Computer Division
2000 Sierra Point Parkway
Brisbane, CA 94005
Tel: (650) 244-7601

IBM
Samuel Palmisano
www.ibm.com/ibm/environment/
IBM Corporation
1133 Westchester Avenue
White Plains, New York 10604

Lexmark
Paul Curlander
www.lexmark.co.uk/corporate/environment/home/home_environment.html
www.lexmark.com/US/corporate/environment/site/home_f.htm
Lexmark International, Inc.
740 West New Circle Road
Lexington, KY 40550

Lucky-Goldstar
Ssangsoo Kim (LG Electronics)
www.lg.co.kr/english/contact/faq/index.shtml
2021 Archiblad Avenue, Ontario, CA 91761

Matsushita/Panasonic
Don Iwatani
www.matsushita.co.jp/environment/en/index.html
Matsushita Electric Corporation of America
One Panasonic Way
Secaucus, NJ 07094

Micron PC (MPC)
Don Iwatani
www.buympc.com/about/recycle.html
MPC Computers, LLC (MPC)
906 East Karcher Road
Nampa, Idaho 83687

NEC
Toshimitsu Iwanami (NEC Solutions America)
www.nec.co.jp/eco/en/index.html
NEC USA, Inc.
8 Corporate Center Drive
Melville, NY 11747
Phone: (800) 338-9549

Philips
Gerard Kleisterlee
www.philips.com/InformationCenter/Global/FHomepage-NoXCache.asp?lNodeId=1252
64 Perimeter Center East / Atlanta, GA 30346
(770) 821-2400

Samsung
Kun-Hee Lee
www.samsung.com/AboutSAMSUNG/SocialCommitment/EHSReport/index.htm
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC.(SEA)
105 Challenger Road, Ridgefield Park N.J.07660-0511, U.S.A.
Phone (201) 229-4000

Sharp
Toshiaki Urushisako
www.sharpelectronics.com/about/AboutEnvironment/0,1331,,00.html
www.sharp-world.com/sc/environ/index.html
Sharp Electronics Corporation Headquarters
Sharp Plaza
Mahwah, New Jersey 07430-2135
Phone: (201) 529-8425

Sony
Nokuyuki Idei
www.sony.net/SonyInfo/Environment/
550 Madison Ave., New York, NY, 10022

Toshiba
Taizo Mishimuro (not sure of this one)
www.toshiba.co.jp/env/english/
Toshiba America, Inc.
1251 Avenue of the Americas
Suite 4110
New York, NY 10020

ViewSonic
James Chu
www.viewsonic.com/companyinfo/qualityiso.htm
381 Brea Canyon
Walnut, CA 91789
Phone: (909) 444-8888

Wyse Technology
John Stringer
www.wyse.com/products/index.htm
3471 N. First Street
San Jose, CA 95134-1801
Phone: (408) 473-1200