Apple highlights device recycling, iPhone trade-in, and the removal of leather for Earth Day

So, uh, what do we use in place of leather? (Plastics)  :D

globby said:

So, uh, what do we use in place of leather? (Plastics)  :D

Great point! From an even more removed bird’s-eye view, leather is way more sustainable than plastics. It is much more biodegradable.

Is Apple buying into the vegan philosophy, wholesale? That certainly does not reflect the vast majority of Apple’s customers’ views.

I will miss the leather case when I upgrade my phone this year. A smart case supplier would replicate Apple's now-discontinued cases and add to their product assortment.

globby said:

So, uh, what do we use in place of leather? (Plastics)  :D

Just gotta love the instant naysayers in the comments sections...pounce first, think later.   "Good" job, ha ha

Camera35 said:

globby said:

So, uh, what do we use in place of leather? (Plastics)  :D

Just gotta love the instant naysayers in the comments sections...pounce first, think later.   "Good" job, ha ha

The problem is that the cows that would have been used to make the leather cases die regardless, as leather is a waste product of meat production*. Sure, a smaller return might mean fewer cows are bred in the long term, but not by much. 

So instead of a product that eats literal atmospheric carbon**, you add ground carbon into the system until finewoven is 100% recycled. Let's not forget that finewoven is junk with little to no durability, nor does age well.

It's odd that Apple never addresses the elephant of their product in these Earth reports: raw consumerism. They build devices with good build quality and quality life spans but cut the device off if it can't run the latest feature set, even if Users were happy with the feature set at purchase but would like to stay compatible otherwise***. 

Keeping the device in active use is the best outcome, even if the device is highly recycled post-use. With much of brand value tied to the longevity of the products, it should be the first point they make, say with an average fleet age. We have an office of 27inch iMacs great screens could easily work as monitors for new Mseries machine with the bonus of redundant cover. But how long will continuity work once the machines can't run the latest O/S then have to head to recycling for no good reason. * there are plenty of ways to reduce meat consumption, waste  and production and still have more than enough leather for cases.
** manufacturing still matters but that is equally true of the replacement.
*** I for one would be happy to pay continued support.