Director's Report
CITY OF CUPERTINO
10300 TORRE AVENUE, CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA 95014
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
~
Subject: Report of the Community Development Director~~
Planning Commission Agenda Date: Tuesday, July 08, 2008
The City Council cancelled their meeting of July I, 2008 consequently there are no items to report.
Miscellaneous Items
,-
1. Oak Park Tour: Senior Planner Gary Chao has arranged a tour of the Oak Park residential
development for Friday, July 11. Commissioners Marty Miller and Paul Brophy signed up for
the 3:00-3:30 PM time period. A second tour has been arranged Friday, July 11, 4:00-4:30 PM
with Lisa Giefer. Any other commissioners who are interested in attending a tour should
contact Gary Chao at (408) 777-3247 or garyc@cupertino.org. You can either join Lisa or a
separate tour can be arranged if more than two commissioners wish to attend. Oak Park is
located at the south west comer of North De Anza Boulevard and Highway 280. The site is
accessed from a private driveway off of Valley Green Drive.
2. City Council Schedule: The City Council cancelled their meetings in July and will not meet
again until August 5, 2008.
3. Have a great Fourth of July holidayl
Enclosures:
Newspaper articles
G: \ Planning \ SteveP \ Director's Report \2008 \pd7-08-08.doc
Hewlett-Packard, Apple in the middle of the pack for 'green' corporate citizenship - San Jose Mercury N...
~t4trtury News
MercuryNews.com
Hewlett-Packard, Apple in
the middle of the pack for
'green' corporate
citizenship
By John Boudreau
Mercury News
Article Launctled: 0612512008 09:00:00 AM PDT
Green Energy
. More updates and information
In its latest survey of practices among makers of
electronic gadgets, Greenpeace has raised the bar of
what the environmental group believes is required
for "green" corporate citizenship.
The analysis of the products and procedures of 18
major electronics manufacturers, released today,
ranked two Silicon Valley giants - Hewlett-Packard
and Apple - in the middle of the pack. Handset
maker Sony Ericsson topped the list, while video
game company Nintendo finished last.
Greenpeace and other environmental groups have
long pressured electronics companies to eliminate
toxic substances from products and develop
recycling programs to ease the impact of discarded
devices on the planet. For the first time, though, the
group is calling on corporations to lend their
political lobbying muscle to promote global
mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's not enough any more for companies to say they
are for these things," said Greenpeace spokesman
Daniel Kessler. "We want them to be advocates for
them. We need Main Street and Wall Street and, in
Page 1 of2
this case, Silicon Valley, to advocate for change."
Greenpeace also wants companies to focus beyond
product energy efficiency and examine how much
environmental damage is caused by their world-
wide operations. The information and
communications technology sector is responsible
for 2 percent of emissions, equal to the aviation
industry, the group said.
In its eighth quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics,
Greenpeace gave HP, tied for ninth with with
Motorola, and Apple, ranked tenth, thumbs up for
some chemical and e-waste policies.
The report credits HP for setting a goal to reduce
emissions at its global facilities to 16 percent below
2005 levels by 2010. But it criticizes the Palo Alto-
based company for not providing enough data on
the use of renewable energy and not setting a time
table to phase out certain chemicals. And it dinged
HP for not having a more aggressive take-back
recycling program.
In a statement, Pierre Delforge, HP's manager of
energy and climate strategy, said the company is
working on numerous fronts to confront climate
change.
"Our strategy includes reducing the energy use in
HP-owned operations, reducing the carbon footprint
of our products and services, developing products
and services that will reduce the footprint of the rest
of t.he economy, and advocating for effective public
policy to enable the transformation of the economy
to low-carbon," he said. "HP takes its
responsibilities to the environment very seriously."
Greenpeace said Apple, along with Sony Ericsson,
was a standout in energy efficiency. Kessler credited
the company's efforts to eliminate arsenic, mercury,
polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, a type of plastic used in
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Hewlett-Packard, Apple in the middle of the pack for 'green' corporate citizenship - San Jose Mercury N... Page 2 of2
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computer parts and cables, and brominated flame
retardants, or BFRs from its products.
The full report is available at www.greenpeace.org
"Apple seems to be on the upswing," said Kessler,
whose organization gave the Cupertino company its
worst rating in December, 2006. "But they are not
where we need them to be."
Contact John Boudreau at
jboudreau@mercurynews.com or (408) 278-3496.
Greenpeace criticized the company for not setting a
timeline for reducing other chemicals and for not
having a more global take-back recycling program.
It also marked it down for not providing information
about its efforts to reduce pollution caused by
facility operations and the amount of renewable
energy used.
On its Web site, Apple devotes a page to its free U.S.
recycling program, which includes 10 percent off
new iPods with the purchase of a new one.
Chief Executive Steve Jobs also gives a detailed
defense of the company's environmental efforts in a
letter to consumers. "Apple is already a leader in
innovation and engineering, and we are applying
these same talents to become an environmental
leader," he said.
Microsoft scored next to last because its Xbox 360
game console contains PVCs and BFRs, though the
company has said it will eliminate them in 2010.
"Microsoft is committed to environmental
sustainability and has many programs and policies
in place to lessen our footprint," a company
spokesperson said in a statement. "In our consumer
electronics business, we comply with and exceed all
environmental guidelines and regulations. We are
committed to making ongoing progress on
environmental issues."
Nintendo "scored zero on all e-waste criteria," the
report said.
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7/1/2008