Apple Gives Crash Courses on Solar Farms, Zero Waste, and More in Series of Earth Day Videos

Apple has uploaded four videos to its YouTube channel ahead of Earth Day on April 22, with each providing a crash course on environmental topics.

In the solar farm video, Apple's environmental chief Lisa Jackson gives a crash course on how the company's 40-megawatt solar farms in China produce enough electricity for all of its offices and retail stores in the country, while leftover energy that reaches the ground grows the grass underneath to feed yaks.


In the zero waste video, Apple explains how none of its 14 final assembly facilities in China send any waste to landfills. The humorous video shows how the zero waste achievement supposedly started when Apple employee John Reynolds in iPhone Product Operations visited a factory in Guanlan, China.


In the third video, Apple's head of environmental technologies Rob Guzzo and toxicology expert Art Fong explain how the company makes about 30 gallons worth of human sweat every year in order to ensure the Apple Watch and other products are to safe to use in contact with your skin while working out.


In the fourth video, Apple's vice president of real estate Dan Whisenhunt explains how the company's new Apple Park campus has one of the world's largest naturally ventilated buildings. The building uses outside air and water to cool itself naturally, reducing its cooling load by 35 percent a year.


Mashable spoke with Apple about the ads ahead of their release, noting that the animations in each video are hand drawn by illustrator James Blagden. Apple CEO Tim Cook also makes a subtle appearance in each video in a "Where's Waldo" way. Watch the videos and see if you can spot him.

Apple's other Earth Day initiatives include a commitment to stop mining the earth for rare minerals and metals, retail employees wearing green shirts, and green-tipped Apple logos at its retail stores. Apple also released its 2017 Environmental Responsibility Report detailing its 2016 carbon footprint.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Apple Logo Top Half

Early iOS 26 Software Leak Uncovers Dozens of Upcoming Apple Features

Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code. In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple Leak Confirms Work on Foldable iPhone, AirTag 2, and Dozens More Devices

Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak. As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Leak Reveals Foldable iPhone Details

Monday December 15, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station. According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 Beta 1 Features: What's New So Far

Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas. We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features. Transfer to Android Apple is making it simpler...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2 Likely to Offer These 10 New Features

Monday December 15, 2025 7:41 am PST by
Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...

Top Rated Comments

happydude Avatar
113 months ago
say what you want about the good and evil of giant multinational corporations, i'm just glad in this aspect, apple has chosen to be on the side of green technology, zero waste, etc.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NinjaHERO Avatar
113 months ago
Always nice to know a company this big and rich tries to do all they can for the environment.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
happydude Avatar
113 months ago
Meh, Apple can't make a single statement without being self ingratiating. Apple can't act without bettering their cause, even to help improve the planet. Apple could solve several world problems with the amount of money they have, but unless it can directly contribute to Apple's profit Apple won't spend a dime unless it benefits them directly. The fact they even mention Apple Watch is so obvious a desperation to sell more of this product and use any excuse to promote it.
well, same for any company trying to do social, environmental, or other good. they're a corporation with a legal responsibility to maximize profit. if they're going to extra lengths to go green, they have to make some hay about it - toot their own horn, make themselves look good, help drive people to buy their products vs. a "dirtier" company's similar product.

other examples: do you think target would give a % of it's profit away to charity without talking about it? mcdonlad's ronald mcdonald house. koch industries foundational giving. so many more.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nvmls Avatar
113 months ago
Make your own sweat as in sweatshops?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NT1440 Avatar
113 months ago
Meanwhile, it has been about 3.3 Earth Days since the last Mac Pro release, about 2.5 Earth Days since the last Mac mini update, and 1.5 Earth Days since the last iMac update. Seems that Apple would rather preach and preen about saving the planet than actually do their job.
You're right, clearly they should stick the environmental department content creators on the engineering teams...that'll speed them up. :rolleyes:
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Glideslope Avatar
113 months ago
Cute, but too Deep for most Americans. :apple:
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)