Technomaly

Greepeace isn’t the first organization I think of when the Consumer Electronics Show comes around, but a press release in my email inbox reminded me that the group issues a quarterly Guide To Greener Electronics (pdf). The 14th edition is available now, and Greenpeace is chiming in on what they have seen out at CES. The group has praise for Apple, Sony Ericsson and Nokia for their new products, which have eliminated many of the hazardous chemicals that were once present in just about every electronic doodad you can name. Also praised was HP, which Greenpeace says is catching up to the aforementioned green tech leaders.

On the other end of the spectrum, several companies didn’t score nearly as well. Samsung, Dell, Lenovo and LGE were all mentioned as companies that failed to live up to some of their environmental promises. From the press release:

Samsung, Dell, Lenovo, and LGE pick up penalty points in the Guide (1) for failing to follow through on a promised phase-out of toxic chemicals in their products. The majority of the companies in the Guide had pledged to remove toxic PVC vinyl plastic and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) (2) from their product range by the end of 2009, which would have meant a greater show of greener, toxic-free products for visitors to preview at the CES. But, for now, it’s a no show for these companies, who have delayed their phase-out to 2011 or beyond.

Greenpeace’s complete coverage of CES can be found here. Personally, I’m glad that the group is out there pushing for greener, safer electronics. After all, we all die from cancer or global warming, we won’t get to play with any more fun tech toys.