Apple has today posted its latest Environmental Responsibility report, together with a new Better Starts Here video, celebrating a number of recent environmental issues and its commitment to “leave the world better than we found it” …

The company said that true innovation goes beyond product design and includes everything from energy-generation to packaging.

We take our passion for innovation beyond our products and into our practices. As part of our continuing mission to leave the world better than we found it, we’re partnering with The Conservation Fund to protect and create the type of forests we use in our packaging. We’ve developed a renewable micro‑hydro project to power our data center Prineville, Oregon. And we’re building a solar farm in China to offset energy used by our offices and retail stores. Because it’s our responsibility to make sure that in creating beautiful products, we’re also caring for our beautiful planet.

The new report says that Apple set three environmental priorities:

• Reduce our impact on climate change by using renewable energy sources and driving energy efficiency in our products. • Conserve precious resources so we all can thrive. • Pioneer the use of greener materials in our products and processes.

The company said that all its data centers are powered by clean energy, greater energy efficiency ensures that greenhouse gas emissions from using Apple products have been reduced by 61% since 2008, recycling programs are offered in 99% of the countries in which the company operates, and that Apple is leading the way in removing harmful toxins from its products to reduce the issue of disposal.

Apple last week announced two major new environmental initiatives. First, a “breakthrough” arrangement for sustainability in its packaging, purchasing 36,000 acres of forest that would be harvested in a way that would ensure the land remained forest. The protected area spans an area larger than the city of San Francisco.

Second, two new solar power plants in China, generating up to 80 million kilowatt-hours of energy while ensuring that the land can continue to be used for farming. Apple previously announced that a new $850M solar farm in California would offset all its California operations, including the new spaceship campus under construction.

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