New Green Your Network blog post about Greenpeace attacking the HP headquarters in CA
Today’s blog entry is less informative and more speculative than most of my previous contributions. Throughout this entire week, I have noticed the same story appearing over and over again in most “green” related news channels as well as many mainstream media distributions as well. The story is about HP and their failure to keep promises regarding their environmental policies. Apparently HP has been promising to phase out many toxic chemicals from their production process for years and now, and activists have had enough! This week, members of Greenpeace painted the message “Hazardous Products” on the rooftop of HP’s Palo Alto, Calif., global headquarters and sent many of the company’s key employees harassing automated phone calls on the subject. Greenpeace has publicly been after HP, DELL and others to clean up their acts for months now. This is because these companies manufacture products with the chemicals PVC and BFRs which give off toxic fumes that when they are broken down are considered extremely dangerous carcinogens. The lifecycle of these hardware parts almost always find themselves spending their final days being shipped off to some underdeveloped country for breakdown. The toxins released from these chemicals, spew off chlorodioxin, and bromodioxin into the environment causing serious impact on the health of local inhabitants. This type of chemical breakdown would never be tolerated in the U.S. where these companies like HP and Dell reside. I can’t help but think about the parallel between this type of corporate sabotage and that of the more popular whale wars. Activists have been physically attacking illegal whaling vessels on the high sea’s for almost two decades now, ever since specific whale species have been classified as endangered. These activists are trying to protect the whale species much like the activists who vandalized the HP headquarters was trying to protect local citizens in India and China where most of these dangerous chemicals are being released from the breakdown of e-waste. I wonder how, or if these acts of aggression will intimidate or motivate companies like HP or Dell? I wonder if all this publicity hasn’t somehow backhandedly helped them gain free exposure. For better or worse, we are all familiar with the age old adage, “say whatever you like about me, just spell my name right,” which implies that any news is good news. I wonder if this is the beginning of a new trend in our corporate world like that of the whaling industry. Please let me know your thoughts on any or all of these questions posed above. I’m curious how the legacy of this bold act by Greenpeace will ultimately be remembered or possibly replicated. See related articles here:
Greenpeace Tags HP for Lagging in Eco-CommitmentsReuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com By Joshua Levitt Managing Director for UsedCisco.com Sign up to receive the Green Your Network blog via email
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