Apple defended its decision to withdraw from green product registry EPEAT by saying the company uses its own environmental metrics that surpass those measured by EPEAT. Apple also argued that it goes beyond the rest of the industry by posting the details of its findings on its website.

"Apple takes a comprehensive approach to measuring our environmental impact and all of our products meet the strictest energy efficiency standards backed by the US government, Energy Star 5.2. We also lead the industry by reporting each product’s greenhouse gas emissions on our website, and Apple products are superior in other important environmental areas not measured by EPEAT, such as removal of toxic materials," Apple spokeperson Kristin Huget told The Loop.

Apple's withdrawal of its 39 products from EPEAT was made public last week and has been in the news ever since. Although membership in EPEAT is voluntary, numerous schools and government agencies require the products they buy to meet EPEAT certification, forcing them to reevaluate their purchases from Apple. The City of San Francisco became the first major municipality to announce that it would no longer be spending city funds on Apple's products as a result of the withdrawal, and some top universities are reportedly reviewing the policy as well.