Apple jumps to 4th place in the latest Greenpeace survey

Tree-huggers who were feeling just a wee bit guilty about buying Apple products can rest easy today. Apple has jumped up to 4th place in the latest Greenpeace "Guide to Greener Electronics", up from 11th place just four short years ago.

Apple is behind green electronics leader HP, Dell, and Nokia on the list, but ahead of a stack of other electronics firms. Not surprisingly, since they don't seem to be able to do anything right at this point in time, BlackBerry maker RIM is in last place on the list (Jim Dalrymple, take note).

The higher score isn't making Greenpeace too happy with Apple, though -- they were given a severe spanking with the renewable green paddle for not setting a greenhouse gas emission reduction target or phasing out antimony and beryllium in manufacturing. Apple also got whacked for not excluding "suppliers that are involved in deforestation or illegal logging" when procuring paper for packaging.

On the other hand, the Greenpeace report handed Apple a laurel made of granola and hemp for its global recycling program, sourcing of conflict minerals, removing PVC vinyl plastic and brominated flame retardants from products, and meeting or exceeding Energy Star requirements.