In addition to teaming up with World Wildlife Fund on a praiseworthy money-raising initiative, Apple is also honoring Earth Day 2017 with a new activity challenge for Apple Watch owners. MacStories, which first spotted Apple's notification, explains that Apple Watch owners are being challenged to complete at least half an hour workout on Saturday to earn a new medal in the Activity app and unlock special iMessage stickers.
Last year, Apple honored Earth Day with an App Store promotion that sent 100 percent proceeds from select app purchases to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). It ended up being wildly successfully as the company revealed it donated $8 million to the fund. This year in celebration of Earth Day 2017, the two brands are collaborating on a similar money-raising initiative involving Apple retail stores.
Did you know that Apple makes its own artificial sweat to test whether or not products like Apple Watch and Apple Pencil that come in direct contact with the human body would irritate the skin? Neither did I, but that's what they apparently do. I was educated about this, and other fun facts, by watching Apple's new cartoonish videos that highlight the company's efforts at sustainability.
Apple's 2017 Environmental Responsibility Report, covering fiscal year 2016, states that the company will establish a “closed-loop supply chain” and stop mining the earth altogether in order to make its products from 100 percent renewable or recycled materials, including aluminum, copper, tin and tungsten.
An industry-changing objective, indeed, but Apple has yet to completely figure out how to do it. “One day we’d like to be able to build new products with just recycled materials, including your old products,” said the Cupertino firm.
In an effort to help bring more clean energy to its Chinese suppliers, Apple and wind turbine maker Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology (also known as Goldwind) have entered into a cooperative joint venture agreement, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing spotted by the South China Morning Post newspaper.
Beijing Tianrun New Energy Investment, a Goldwind subsidiary, will transfer its thirty percent stakes in four project firms that will stay subsidiaries under Goldwind for stock exchange purposes.
Apple is tapping into its vast base of hundreds of millions of iTunes accounts with credit cards on file to help collect donations to the American Red Cross in an effort to help victims of the flooding in southern Louisiana, which has forced thousands of people out of their homes. Banners on the iTunes and App Store and Apple's U.S. website went live Friday, with donations to the American Red Cross available in $5/$10/$25/$50/$100/$200 tiers billed directly to your credit card.
Apple today issued a press release updating the public on its environmental progress in China while applauding its supplier Lens Technology, which in an unprecedented move has committed to utilize 100 percent renewable energy in all its glass production for the Cupertino firm by 2018.
Lens will use wind energy to power its two facilities in Changsha, Hunan province which are used for Apple manufacturing. The move will avoid nearly 450,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to the energy use in 380,000 Chinese homes.
Apple Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Apple, Inc. registered in Delaware last month, has successfully obtained federal approval from the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to sell excess energy generated from its solar facilities into the wholesale market, joining Google parent Alphabet in the energy-trading business.
The firm sought permission from FERC to begin selling power within 60 days of its filing on June 6. Sales can officially begin on Saturday, Bloomberg said, as FERC's determined that Apple Energy doesn't pose a risk of being able to hike up prices.
Apple on Friday announced that its Apps for Earth campaign has generated more than $8 million in total proceeds. For 10 days in April, the iPhone maker worked with 24 developers to publish interactive and educational content to the App Store, with the proceeds going exclusively to the World Wildlife Fund.
The Board of Commissioners of Catawba County approved a new lease agreement on Monday that would permit Apple to build a renewable energy facility which uses fuel cells to generate electricity from the gas, Hickory Record said today. The lease provides the Cupertino firm with about 3.7 acres on the Blackburn Resource Recovery Facility in Newton.
Apple's focus on making its retail stores and corporate offices in the United States and around the world run on 100 percent renewable energy sources is in the spotlight again with news that it's created a new company with the sole purpose of selling excess electricity generated by its solar farms in Cupertino and Nevada, as first discovered by 9to5Mac.
In addition to a nicely done environment-focused video posted yesterday, in which Apple boasts how its data centers run on 100 percent renewable energy, the Cupertino firm this morning released another Earth Day focused television ad on its YouTube channel, this one promoting recycling.
Featuring Siri and Apple's recycling robot Liam, the 25-second video has Siri conversing with the robot, asking him what he's doing for Earth Day.