07/12/2005
- International It has been a confrontational 24 hours
for the PR people at computer giant Hewlett Packard (HP)
with Greenpeace activists turning up at both their headquarters
in the USA and China.
Workers were greeted by a bright orange blimp floating above
the entrance to the HP international headquarters in California.
Hanging from the blimp was an image of a Chinese girl clutching
an HP keyboard surrounded by an electronic waste (e-waste)
scrapyard with the slogan - "HP = Harmful Products".
A pirate radio station broadcast
a message encouraging workers and passers-by to contact
the HP CEO Mark Hurd to demand they make cleaner products.
The message was also delivered by phone to around 4000
employees working at the headquarters.
HP is a prime example of a dirty
electronics company, said Greenpeace International toxics
campaigner Iza Kruszewska. It has done little to eliminate
hazardous materials in its products, and it is lagging
behind some of its competitors.
Activists in China then delivered
postcards to the employees at HP headquarters in Beijing
along with e-waste components recovered from the Guiyu,
e-waste dump site in the Guangdong Province of China.
The activists, wearing boiler suits bearing the words
"HP = Harmful Products," urged HP employees
to work from within and call for hazardous substances
in computer manufacture to be phased out.
"Greenpeace believes that most
HP employees are unaware of how their products become
toxic e-waste and pollute the environment in scrapping
yards like Guiyu, in China. Armed with information we
believe they will ask their managers to stop manufacturing
such products" said Zhao Yang from Greenpeace China.
Some electronics companies, such as
Samsung, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, LG and Motorola have
taken a first step by committing to the elimination of
all types of brominated flame retardants and PVC plastic
from their products on set timelines. HP, Acer, Apple,
Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, IBM, Lenovo, Panasonic, and Toshiba
have, to date, made no such commitment.
Additional images Palo Alto ©Greenpeace/Mike Fox/zuma,
Beijing ©Greenpeace/Natalie Behring |
