Politicians aren't the only keepers of the public trust who've just gotten performance evaluations. High-tech product makers also are the subject of report cards rating their efforts in matters environmental and economic, affecting the health and welfare of product users.
There's some nasty stuff in consumer electronics. Take the brominated flame retardants (BFRs) used in circuit boards and plastic casings, which don't break down easily and can build up in the environment. Or PVC, a plastic used in products and cable insulation.
Long-term exposure to BFRs has been tied to impaired learning and memory functions, behavioral problems with newborns and interference with thyroid and estrogen hormone systems. PVCs, when released by incineration, are toxic even in low concentration.
That's why Greenpeace periodically holds a bright light to product makers with its updated Guide to Greener Electronics, rating companies on their elimination of these (and other) nasty chemicals, as well as their safe and efficient recycling of old products, energy consumption in manufacturing and vows of future improvements.
So who's doing the job right?
Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Philips are rated "greenest" in the latest Greenpeace report. Philips was singled out for introducing the first TV (Econova) totally free of PVC and BFR. HP did virtually as well as Philips, trailed by Samsung and then a tied-for-sixth Motorola, Panasonic and Sony.
At the bottom of the pile, for wrongs including unkept promises and a poor recycling effort, were Toshiba, Microsoft and Nintendo.
Cost of running TVs
