Perreault Magazine - 33 -
Apple has historically been tight-lipped about its environmental record. In making its new commitments so publicly, the company enters a new relationship with its consumers and stakeholders, indicating a willingness to be held accountable for its impact on the planet. While only time will tell how far Apple is willing to go to do “better”, the company’s challenge to itself also throws down the gauntlet to others.
The key to Apple’s success as a brand has long been its uncanny ability not just to predict the future, but to invent it and make it available here and now. iPod allowed us to carry our entire music collection with us for the first time. iPhone made the internet truly portable.
Just as Apple’s white headphones went from unusual, to ubiquitous, to copied by everyone else, Apple is doing the same for both renewable energy and the broader idea that major companies are responsible for “leaving the world better than we found it,” as Cook says in the company’s new video.
Apple is proving that a healthier planet, one powered entirely by renewable energy just like its own data centers, is no vision from a crystal ball: it’s here, it works, and it’s what the real innovators are embracing. As usual with Apple, others will surely follow. It is my hope that they will do so sooner, rather than later, for their brand’s sake, but also for our future on this planet.