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This Apple buys its own trees

Apple has purchased 36,000 acres of forest in Maine and North Carolina in order to sustainably harvest materials for use in packaging products. Source: Macworld Australia

Apple’s packaging is one of the things that sets it apart form other consumer electronics companies.

The unboxing experience is, for a first time Apple customer, very different to other products where you fight your way through pieces of foam, blister packs and cardboard.

This move by Apple is part of a continuing initiative that started several years ago when they stopped using toxic material in the manufacture of their computers and displays.

According to a press release put out by The Conservation fund and Apple “Apple believes that paper, like energy, can be a renewable resource. So Apple is striving to supply 100% of the virgin fibers used in its paper and packaging from sustainably managed forests or controlled wood sources.”

The move by Apple is part of a new, private sector-based approach to conserving forests developed by The Conservation Fund.

It involves raising corporate and charitable funds to purchase and manage these forestlands sustainably so they can thrive and continue fulfilling their vital role in the ecosystem while supplying business paper and packaging needs.

The Conservation Fund said that the collective annual production of paper fibre from the two forests Apple has purchased is equivalent to nearly half of the virgin fibre that went into iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, and Apple TV packaging last year.