Steve Jobs (the CEO of Apple) may be known as a marketing genius, but it certainly took him a little while to realize that green is the new black. Quite certainly in response to Greenpeace’s Green My Apple campaign (which I discussed previously on Green Options), Jobs has come forward saying that a greener Apple is on the horizon.

Apple recently announced plans for A Greener Apple and highlighted several improvements in sustainability that Apple has made over the past few years that are now being brought to light. The announcement responds to the concerns Greenpeace brought up - phasing out toxic chemicals, improving the take-back and recycling programs, and improving energy efficiency and overall environmental footprint. Steve Jobs outlines what Apple has done, is currently working on, and will do in the future to improve on the company’s environmental impact:

Apple has been criticized by some environmental organizations for not being a leader in removing toxic chemicals from its new products, and for not aggressively or properly recycling its old products. Upon investigating Apple’s current practices and progress towards these goals, I was surprised to learn that in many cases Apple is ahead of, or will soon be ahead of, most of its competitors in these areas. Whatever other improvements we need to make, it is certainly clear that we have failed to communicate the things that we are doing well.

It is generally not Apple’s policy to trumpet our plans for the future; we tend to talk about the things we have just accomplished. Unfortunately this policy has left our customers, shareholders, employees and the industry in the dark about Apple’s desires and plans to become greener. Our stakeholders deserve and expect more from us, and they’re right to do so. They want us to be a leader in this area, just as we are in the other areas of our business. So today we’re changing our policy.

Jobs goes on to explain how Apple has and will continue to phase out toxic chemicals in their products, such as lead (which was nearly eliminated in 2006 when Apple stopped producing CRT displays), Cadmium, Arsenic (which should be phased out in displays by the end of 2008), Mercury, PVC, and Brominated Flame Retardants (PVC & BFRs will also be eliminated by the end of 2008). Jobs also discusses Apple’s recycling program, which he considers far superior to some of his competitors’ programs.

Greenpeace responded to this news by increasing the environmental rating they gave Apple from 2.7 to 5 out of 10. They applauded the company for making strides in their environmental policy, but said that there is still room for improvement. For instance, Apple’s take-back recycling program is currently only available in the US. Greenpeace suggests they implement a worldwide comprehensive recycling program to ensure that none of their products end up as e-waste. Greenpeace urges Apple to go all the way towards making their products “green to the core.”

This news has created quite a buzz from Apple enthusiasts and bloggers. On GigaOM, Katie Fehrenbacher discusses how Apple’s announcement illustrates how green concepts are becoming a necessary part of a company’s branding, especially in tech industries. Working towards greener solutions has become a business necessity in order to keep consumers happy. Green is definitely the new black.

As I write this on my old Apple Powerbook, I am quite excited to learn that the company whose products I use every day is improving its environmental standards. Of course, this means I may have to put off upgrading to a new machine until their products are even greener and the toxic chemicals are all phased out. Hopefully that MacBookPro I’m eyeing will soon be free of toxic chemicals, have an LED display, and be green enough for this environmentalist to plunk down a serious chunk of change. Yo Steve, do you need anyone to test the new green Apple products you’re creating? (hint, hint…)

Links: Apple’s ‘A Greener Apple’ Announcement, Greenpeace’s Response, Macworld news article, Discussion on GigaOM.