No Plastic Bags? Reality Meets Enviromentality

From Apple Insider, comes word that Apple is no longer offering plastic bags with purchases. Instead, they will offer to assist you with purchases of more than a handful to your car.

Macnn speculates this is related to the ban on plastic bags in San Francisco. Well, we pride ourselves on being green (read our report) but there's a problem with this move by Apple: there's no good alternative. Imagine how popular Apple-branded reuasable canvas bags could be! What a great way to advertise the brand (ok, maybe they don't need much more of that right now) and help the environment, without inconveniencing customers. Maybe, just maybe, Apple could even bring itself to throw in a canvas bag with a certain purchase amount. Crazy, I know, but if you buy MobileMe and AppleCare with that new laptop, the least you deserve is a $3 canvas bag from Apple.

Keep up the "green" work Apple, but help customers to have a viable alternative too.

Green Apple: Credit Where It's Due

We are quick to point out shortcomings with Apple's latest products. However, I wanted to take a minute to give them kudos on a solid decision. After many years in the middle of the pack, it looks like Apple is poised to be a leader in environmentally sound production. Granted, there are no announced plans to add solar panels to factories, or wind turbines in Cupertino, but Apple is making steady progress on the toxicity and impact of their computers.

We won't go point by point here, especially since Apple has done the job for us with this information page.

Suffice to say, the steps to remove arsenic from glass for example, may not sell you many extra computers, and while there's a PR value to making your product for environmentally sound (just ask us) the actual expense involved probably far outweighs any marketing advantage. So kudos Apple, for doing the right thing, maybe even when it wasn't the best thing to do financially.