Electronics ethics

The ultimate newsletter from The Story of Stuff:

"Last week, Apple announced the results of an audit conducted by the Fair Labor Association (FLA) of three of the Chinese factories that make its popular iPhone. As the Los Angeles Times wrote on Friday, employees of Foxconn -- Apple's main manufacturer -- 'worked more than 60 hours a week, often worked more than seven days in a row and did not receive enough compensation to meet their basic needs.'

We've been thinking a lot about Apple's labor practices since news about a rash of employee suicides at Foxconn factories surfaced last year. While the labor abuses didn't come as much of a surprise -- have you seen The Story of Electronics? -- I did find the tsunami of guilt expressed by Americans and other iUsers stunning.

That misplaced guilt is the subject of a new piece I have up on Huffington Post. In it, I explore the idea that it's 'consumers' who are driving the market for cheap shiny disposable gadgets and that we're to blame, therefore, when companies get caught trashing the environment or mistreating their workers.

The next time someone says they feel guilty for owning an iPhone, ask if they were the one who decided to maintain a 73% profit margin while underpaying workers on 18-hour-shifts. Did they decide to roll out new models at breakneck speed? To use conflict minerals and toxic chemicals? I didn't think so. The most important ethical choice is not the decision to buy an iPhone, but the decision made on how to make, market and sell it.

Once we come to understand that the decisions companies and governments make are paramount, then we'll know where to apply pressure. By all means let's shun products from companies whose behavior offends. But let's also realize we can work to change not just the way they act but the way they're allowed to act.

Only when every manufacturer of Stuff is required to make their products safely and fairly will we know that no matter what we buy, the important choices have already been made."

Annie Leonard
Co-Director

P.S. "Our good friend Ted Smith, founder of Electronics TakeBack Coalition and a content advisor on The Story of Electronics, had a great piece on the Apple controversy in Sunday's San Jose Mercury News. Make sure you have a look at Ted's piece too."