Is Apple More Responsible Than You? Why You Want to Invest

Apple’s goals of sustainability and self-accountability are better than most individuals. They’ll inspire you to decrease your own carbon footprint and make you feel good about investing in a company that holds itself to such high standards of honesty and responsibility.

Why should you feel good about investing in Apple?

They’re all about the green

With a high caliber of corporate sustainability, Apple is nearly unbeatable in their dedication and results. 100% of their US data and operations centers run on 100% renewable energy (and a growing 87% of global data centers do as well).

Apple remains the most aggressive among major internet companies in deploying renewable energy.

How? Apple has taken that extra-impressive step and built three separate solar farms and on-site fuel cells in order to secure a trusted renewable electricity supply. As a result, Apple prevented 13.8K metric tons of carbon emissions in 2015 and saved 3.8 B gallons of freshwater since 2013, according to their 2016 Supplier Responsibility Report. Apple remains the most aggressive among major internet companies in deploying renewable energy.

They (really) don’t like to waste

From the office to the product, Apple refuses to waste resources. They recycle used Apple devices that their customers drop off at any Apple store.  But Apple doesn’t just depend on their consumers for reducing waste. They’ve ensured that 99% of the paper in their packaging is recycled or sustainable.

Apple is a technology company, but one with an uncommon commitment to sustainability. The plan for their new data center in Viborg, Denmark includes capturing excess heat from the data center, piping it into the town’s district heating system and heating other buildings in the town.

They’re recognized

Just how impressive is their dedication to sustainability? Apple was named the top manufacturer among all brands by the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) in 2015. Furthermore, Apple is the only company awarded a Clean Energy Index of 100%, according to Greenpeace’s Clicking Green Report.

They have a hand in charity

With all the paper that they do use, Apple wanted to give back. In order to reduce the company’s “virgin paper footprint” (virgin paper = paper that has never been recycled before), Apple purchased two forests, one in North Carolina (3,600 acres) and one in Maine (32,400 acres). With the company’s 100% sustainability goal, the purpose of the forest is to plant half as many trees as it’s cutting down each year.

They help employees have a hand in it, too

Apple doesn’t stop at coloring everything green. They highly encourage charitable giving and volunteering. When an Apple employee donates money to a non-profit 501(c)(3), Apple matches the gift, dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000 annually. And when an employee volunteers, the company donates $25 per hour to the organization.

They know kids are the future

As part of the company’s own charitable activities, they also bring an innovative approach to education across the country. In joining forces with President Obama in the ConnectED initiative, Apple pledged $100M to improve teaching and learning solutions within underserved schools nationwide. They’ve donated iPads, Macs and Apple TVs to improve both the teaching and learning experience.