Apple pledges to work harder for environment

Apple has pledged to work harder than ever to "leave the world better than the way we found it", in an ad that has its narration by Apple chief Tim Cook.

The "better" ad running almost two minutes was shot on location at Apple Facilities.

The campaign showcases Apple's green credentials, including its new solar and wind powered data centre, as also a manufacturing facility that ran on 100 per cent clean energy.

Tech commentators, had earlier been sceptical of the company's claims and had questioned the company's commitment to the environment.

The latest ad marks a departure in strategy for Apple, as in the past Steve Jobs had shied away from voice-overs.

It was understood that Jobs did not allow the original version of the "crazy ones" ad to air as it featured his voice-over.

The ad is being supported by Apple with press ads as also a PR drive to increase awareness of its commitments to the environment.

The company ran ads in UK papers including The Guardian and The Metro with copy stating "there are some ideas we want every company to copy" in a subtle reference to the company's dispute with Samsung over the latter copying its technology.

Under Cook, Apple had become increasingly vocal about its efforts to reduce the company's effect on the environment. The company revamped its environmental website highlighting its progress and disclosing some new efforts as well in addition to featuring the video.

Though Apple had earlier made disclosures about its environmental impact, the new site dramatically expanded the scope and detail in terms of efforts to reduce the harmful materials content in its products and progress toward using only renewable energy at its facilities.

Only a few weeks ago, Greenpeace had praised Apple for reducing its reliance on so-called "conflict materials" that came from areas subject to human rights abuses. The environmental group also commended Apple for the most environmentally friendly data centred in the tech industry.

According to the revamped website, Apple's data centres now ran on 100 per cent renewable energy, and across all Apple facilities, the company used 94 per cent renewable energy, up from 35 per cent in 2010.

Apple further disclosed that it was in the process of expanding its product take-back programme and rather than just throwing out old gadgets, Apple users could currently return any product by printing out a label from the Apple website and ship it back to the company.