MP3 and MP4 Players - music on the move
The technology used in portable audio and visual devices is progressing rapidly. The Sony Walkman strolled a lonely path through the 1980s and portable CD players skipped through the 1990s. Now MP3 and MP4 players have danced into the 21st century.
An MP3 is a digital audio file, and contains sound only. An MP4 on the other hand is a digital video file and contains video as well as audio. MP4 players will therefore also have a small screen. Companies in this sector have been the target of pressure for environmental improvements for some years now.
Apple — rotten to the core?
The market for audio players is dominated by Apple and its range of iPods. In the past the company has been dogged by accusations of poor environmental practice.
In the case of their MP3 players (or iPods), campaigners have been particularly disgruntled at what they described as the iPods' 'built-in obsolescence' i.e. the high cost and difficulty of replacing batteries.
Campaigners say this encourages new product purchase rather than battery replacement. This poor environmental record has led to a succession of campaigns including Bad Apple, fixitapple and the largest and most successful GreenmyApple, launched by Greenpeace in 2007.
Greenpeace activists used every trick in the book, including numerous demonstrations outside Apple facilities, to get the company to take their environmental responsibilities more seriously.
The message from the campaign group was clear, 'we love Apple and we know you have the best designers, therefore we believe they have the ability to design more environmentally sound products'.
The campaign enjoyed some success and the company announced targets for a reduction in the use of toxic chemicals and improved recycling rates. In 2007 company boss Steve Jobs announced that all of Apple's new products would be polyvinyl chloride- (PVC) and brominated flame retardant- (BFRs) free by the end of 2008.
Tom Dowdall, co-ordinator of Greenpeace's 'toxic tech' campaign, described this move as a "significant announcement that will resonate within the industry...This lays down the challenge to competitors. There's no excuse for companies not to follow Apple's lead."
According to the latest Greenpeace Greener Guide to Electronics, Apple has lived up to its promise and all new iPods are free of both PVC and BFRs
What about the batteries?
However, this does not solve the iPods' battery problem. It has been reported that some iPod batteries last only 13 months when used frequently.7 When the power runs out users have three options.
Firstly you can send it back to Apple. They replace the battery for around £39 and will recycle the old battery.
Secondly you can send it to an independent electrical dealer. They charge around £30 and who knows where the battery will end up.
Alternatively you can buy a battery and replacement kit and attempt to do it yourself. This will cost around £5 but requires a degree of skill that most of us don't possess.
Not all MP3 players have batteries that are a hassle to replace. Some models from Sandisk, Archos and Creative use bog standard AA or AAA batteries that can be changed without any problem.
Of course, rechargeable batteries should be used in these models, but even they eventually lose their charge and need to be recycled rather than thrown away. Some of the more expensive models of MP3 and MP4, for example those from iRiver, come with rechargeable batteries.
Rechargeable batteries contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals such as cadmium and nickel which are toxic for humans and harmful to the environment.
In our Batteries Report we urged consumers to choose Nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries over Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cads) because of their lower toxicity.
In 2001 the EU proposed a programme to completely phase out the use of cadmium in batteries. However its attempts were stifled by intense corporate lobbying.
It is also worth noting that on the Which? website the Apple iPod receives a 5 star rating for its battery life compared to 4 for an iRiver model and 3 for a Cowon model.
Guide to Greener Electronics
The Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics is produced every few months and rates the 18 largest consumer electronics companies on a number of environmental criteria.
Only four of the 14 brands mentioned in our report appear on the Greenpeace table. These, along with their scores, are listed below. Higher scores are better.
- 5.9 Samsung — Good on toxic chemicals and energy — very poor on recycling
- 5.3 Sony — Still has room for improvement on energy
- 4.3 Apple — Now reporting carbon footprint and new iPods are free of both PVC and BFRs
- 4. Philips — Scores well on toxics and energy but scores zero on recycling.
Unwind with a greener MP3
If you are put off buying an MP3 or 4 player due to environmental concerns, Baylis may have the product for you. The new Eco Media Player is powered by a wind-up mechanism.
The player has proved popular and sold out its original production run almost immediately. Luckily it's now available again. The designer Tony Davies said, "The wind-up market has really taken off so we developed a brand new range driven by a wind-up generator that delivers efficiency and power."
On the down side it does contain a rechargeable battery — to store the wound-up charge. It seems there is no getting away from them.
To some degree, another way of reducing environmental impact is to use a mobile phone which can play MP3 files rather than buying a separate device. In our Mobile Phones Report, Nokia was a best buy.
Where to get MP3 music
With the right software your home computer should be able to convert CDs you already own to MP3 files.
These MP3 files can then be uploaded to your MP3 player via a cable attached to a USB port, which all new computers will have. It really is that simple. It is the same for MP4 files.
Some MP3 companies promote their products on their sustainability — with no physical form like CDs they are potentially a very low impact product.
If you need to buy MP3 files there a range of online retailers where you can download the files you want from their websites. These include iTunes at Apple (www.apple.com — ethiscore 8), HMV (www.HMV.com — ethiscore 9.5) and even Tesco (www.tesco.com — ethiscore 0.5).
Alternatively you can download them straight from artists' websites. Last year Radiohead famously only sold their album through their own site (www.radiohead.com) and asked for contributions rather than setting the price.
Ethical Consumer does not condone internet piracy and would not advise readers to use P2P download sites such as Kazaa, Pirate Bay or Soul Seek.
More than just pop
The world of digital audio is constantly expanding so if you're not interested in Britney Spears or Leona Lewis don't despair there is still something for you.
There are now a host of audio books that can be downloaded to your computer and uploaded to you MP3 player. Lots of the latest titles are available as well as a huge back catalogue. An easy to use website is www.audible.co.uk.
A second great source of news and entertainment are podcasts. These are short audio programs that can be downloaded from innumerable sources. BBC Radio Four (www.bbc.co.uk/radio4), for example, now has a podcast of the Archers, and the Guardian (www.theguardian.co.uk) produce several.
Company Profiles
Baylis
16 years ago company president Trevor Baylis invented the wind-up radio. It was hoped that this technology would help in the fight against AIDS in Africa.
He produced cheap radios that did not need batteries in the hope that programs educating people about the AIDS epidemic could be broadcast to a wider audience throughout Africa. He helped set up BayGen Power Industries in South Africa employing disabled workers to manufacture the Freeplay Wind-Up Radio.
After five years in operation however, the Cape Town factory closed and the manufacturing was outsourced to plants in China where labour costs were lower. This led to a demonstration of about 100 workers and an accusation by the National Union of Metal Workers that Freeplay had misled Nelson Mandela.
Even Trevor Baylis distanced himself from the company, (despite remaining a shareholder). In an interview with the www.sustainabletimes.ca he said, "I wasn't particularly happy...it is rather crass to raise money on the back of disabled people in South Africa."
According to Rory Stear, one of the Directors; "Some decisions had to be made or the company — and the dream — would have died outright."
Apple
Apple has also been criticised for its workers' rights record. According to an article dated 30th August 2006 in the Sydney Morning Herald, Apple was the subject of controversy over allegations of workers' rights abuses at a Chinese factory which made iPods.
The workers were said to have been paid only US$50 per month, whilst working 15 hour shifts. The case had gained further notoriety after Hongfujin Precision Industry Co, the manufacturing company, took out an injunction against the Chinese journalists who had broken the story which included freezing their assets.
Apple was being asked by international human rights campaign groups to intervene in the case.6
In September 2006 CSR Asia Weekly reported that these attempts to pursue Chinese journalists created more notoriety in the Chinese media. The company later withdrew its lawsuit and stated that it would be working to improve conditions for its workforce.1
Phillips
Dutch company Philips is marked down on the company table for producing parts for the military. This includes: optical parts for reconnaissance supplied to France, chips for telecommunication supplied to the US and Germany, and polarizers and camera windows supplied to The Netherlands.4
A subsidiary of the company, Philips Electronic Instruments Co, was listed by Nuclear Engineering International's Buyer's Guide as a supplier of microscopes to the nuclear power industry.5
The company is also in several high level corporate lobby groups including the European Round Table of Industrialists and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Samsung The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) placed Samsung at number 63 on its list of 'The 100 largest arms-producing companies, 2006'. According to SIPRI, the company's arms sales had totalled $720 million.
It also had operations in 12 oppressive regimes including China, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, UAE, USA, Russia, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Hitachi
This company comes out less well due to its links with the nuclear industry. Two of its subsidiaries, Global Nuclear Fuels America and Global Nuclear Fuels Japan, unsurprisingly manufacture and sell nuclear fuels.
The company also manufactures the following goods for military use: communications equipment, computers, software, electronic components and computer circuits.
Alba
Alba Plc has a number of larger shareholders including GAM London Ltd (15%), Schroders (13%) and Legal and General Investment Management (12%).
Alba's Annual Report 2008 stated that the company felt that its environmental impact was low because "the groups' manufacturing is outsourced". Ethical Consumer did not feel that this represented an understanding of the company's impacts.
Also no stand-alone environmental report could be found. The annual report did state that the company carried out internal audits to minimise environmental impacts. However, without any future quantifiable targets or independent verification, Alba could only receive Ethical Consumer's worst rating for environmental reporting.
Price Comparison
References
1 www.ajc.com 14/2/07
2 Sydney Morning Herald 30/8/06
3 CSR Asia Weekly 13/9/06
4 Philips Annual Report 24/2/06
5 www.neimagazine.com 10/1/07
6 www.smh.com.au 30th August 2006
7 www.motherjones.com