In life, it helps to have someone who can hold you accountable for your actions. In the case of electronics companies, it seems that Greenpeace is their accountability partner. The organization has recently released the current company rankings in its Greener Electronics Scale. To find out how certain companies fared, get "green-minded" and turn to the full article after the jump.

Greenpeace has released their "Guide to Greener Electronics" which scores the 18 top manufacturers of gadgets and devices according to their policies on toxic chemicals and recycling.

Apple, which was under Greenpeace's black books for the iPhone, got a better score this time around. Among the three console manufacturers, Sony scored the best. Microsoft was third to the last and Nintendo was in last place (because both are new entries to the guide).

Checking if Steve Jobs and Apple made good in their promise to be clean and green with their products, environmentalist group Greenpeace got themselves an 8GB iPhone, shipped it to their UK research laboratory, dismantled it, and checked if the iPhone is indeed environmentally sound.

The verdict? Greenpeace has determined that there's still hazardous chemicals found in the iPhone.

One of the toxic chemicals found in the iPhone - phthalates - is not banned for use in mobile phones, but has been classified as "toxic to reproduction, category 2" due to their interference to mammalian reproduction. Toxic phthalates are banned from toys in Europe.

Brominated flame retardants were also found in the iPhone. It should be mentioned at this point that Jobs mentioned in his environmental press release that Apple already adhered to the restrictions of using brominated flame retardants.

On a slightly related (and humorous) note, we can also see the iPhone's chemicals in action in Blendtec's Will It Blend site. Did these hazardous chemicals cause the iPhone to go "boom"? Just a little something to think about, of course.


Check out the video of Greenpeace's iPhone laboratory testing after the jump!

During Apple's recent shareholder meeting, Apple CEO Steve Jobs addressed a few issues that were thrown his way. Read on for a few snippets of Jobs' comebacks.

On Leopard's delay. "Leopard will be worth the wait."

On the iPhone. "We're beginners and we have a lot to learn," said Jobs. "The market is large and the opportunities are great. A few of us have been using the iPhone a lot and if you wanted it back, you would have to pry it from our dead hands."

Jobs also said that the company is still deciding whether or not to let third-party developers create software for the iPhone.

On the stock options scandal. "I actually got my options at a higher price, but I didnÂ?t ask the company to reimburse me." As for former Apple CFO Fred Anderson, Jobs said that he had "worked with Fred for many years and I think he's an awfully good guy, but I thought his comments were a little wrong."

On Greenpeace. Jobs also took some time to throw around some criticism of his own. Two Greenpeace representatives were present at the meeting, and although they congratulated Jobs and Apple for their commitment to greener products, Jobs had the following words for the organization:

I think your organization particularly depends too much on principle and not enough on fact. You guys rate people based on what people say their plans are in the distant future, not what they are doing today. I think you put way too much weight on these glorified principles and way too little weight on science and engineering.

It would be very helpful if your organization hired a few more engineers and actually entered into dialog with companies to find out what they are really doing and not just listen to all the flowery language when in reality most of them arenÂ?t doing anything.

ThatÂ?s my opinion.

The "Green Ranking" by world-lovin' Greenpeace rates the world's consumer electronics industry to determine which company, in quarterly periods, is the most eco-friendly. After returning CEO Michael Dell challenged other electronics manufacturers to provide "takeback" policies on throw-away, useless hardware, it seems that China's laptop brand Lenovo outgreened just about everybody else, except itself.

Now while takeback policies aren't exactly new, only EU member nations have strictly enforced the recycle old hardware policy by asking electronics companies to offer discounts on newer hardware purchases as old, unusable parts were traded in. Greenpeace hopes that companies will adopt this policy worldwide, as did Dell.

Sony (and Sony-Ericsson) are now also complying with chemicals for silicon doping and fire resistance with their elimination of beryllium and phthalates. Unfortunately for Earth-lovers and Captain Planet, only 14 companies are currently included in the rankings.

As a big surprise to all, Lenovo, a China-based firm for electronics and mobile computing, has leaped from last place to top place, despite the massive amounts of e-waste that are generated in China. Greenpeace's International Toxic Campaigner Iza Kruszewska said:

Given the growing mountains of e-waste in China - both imported and domestically generated Â? it is heartening to see a Chinese company taking the lead, and assuming responsibility at least for its own branded waste. The challenge for the industry now is to see who will actually place greener products on the market.

Lenovo could possibly lose the number one spot if the next product that it puts out to market is not free from the worst of chemicals. The top five most eco-friendly of e-companies are as follows:

1. Lenovo
2. Nokia
3. Sony Ericsson
4. Dell
5. Samsung

The ranking takes into consideration the equal treatment of all customers, so if any double-faced takeback policies have been reported, companies suffer rank drops all across the boards. Unfortunately, Apple is the last of all the companies. But good news: Apple hasn't dropped a spot ever since!

Apple Inc. and environmental group Greenpeace never got along - despite the company's efforts to improve their green practices. Greenpeace argues that since Apple is shaping up to be a leader in design and product innovation, they should also be a leader in recycling and other environment-friendly activities. Well, Greenpeace is once again pounding on the gates of Apple because of an upcoming Apple board of directors action.

This time around, the target is former vice president, Apple board member, and environmentalist Al Gore. Apparently, the Board has two proposals that would strengthen Apple's environmental policies. But according to Apple, shareholders will be informed that the Apple board is "unanimously" against the plan when the said proposals are sent to the shareholders for voting.

So with that, Greenpeace is urging Al Gore to support the proposals and use his leadership ability and environmental track record to improve Apple Inc.'s environmental policies. For now, former VP Gore has no comment about that.

A Greenpeace report naming Apple as one of the worst companies for pollution in the world has been debunked by Daniel Eran of Roughly Drafted. Greenpeace claimed that Apple had used many toxic chemicals in manufacturing, without asking where these toxic chemicals or by-products would end up, and Apple's position of 2.7 out of 10 (10 being the highest) was based upon this.

The article suppresses Greenpeace as being a valid organization for factual results, suggesting that their report was skewed in their favour, with previous Greenpeace works being 'sloppy' and using 'loose facts'. The Greenpeace report has been accused of using press releases by companies or public statements to determine their position rather than raw facts.

Greenpeace's report seems particularly flawed when you weigh up the differences between HP and Apple. HP received a much-higher ranking of 5.7 compared to Apple's 2.7 points, but HP have said on their website: In 2005, we found that some [Resistance of Hazardous Substances] RoHS compliant components were not yet available. Although we did not meet our goal for 2005, significant progress was made in transitioning HPÂ?s product lines to RoHS compliance.

Even will Apple's low score, here is what Apple had on their website: Apple products are compliant with the European Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment, also known as the RoHS directive. Examples of materials restricted by RoHS include lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and PBB and PBDE flame retardants. As a result of our precautionary approach to substances, Apple was able to meet many of the RoHS restrictions long before the July 2006 deadline.

Despite this, Apple got a bad rating whilst HP were ranked particularly good. Next time you see a Greenpeace report, take it with a pinch of salt.