Dear Friends,
The big apple tree that we planted by the corner of our building when we first bought our facility has spread out its limbs and just getting some buds. If this warm weather holds, it should be a good year for apples! My fledgling vegetable plants are under the artificial lights, but it is high time for planting the peas.
Apple’s tree is blooming too, with another record-breaking quarter. I’ll go over the numbers later in this issue of Kibbles & Bytes, but the remarkable story of Apple is continuing as they surpass Walmart, IBM, GE, Proctor & Gamble and Bank of America on the list of most valuable public companies. Using float-adjusted numbers puts Apple past Microsoft as well, but technically, they are still behind Microsoft and the leader, Exxon.
To imagine this business journey from a company near bankruptcy, posting huge loses and without a direction, to the one of the most valuable companies in the world—and perhaps the most famous—is simply mind boggling. Congratulations to everyone at Apple for yet another great quarter of growth, leadership and success.
One thing that was remarkable from my journey to China and the two trade shows that I attended was the number of iPad accessories that had already made it to the floor. The dimensions were off on some of them and will have to be re-tooled, but it is clear that the iPad will have an eco-structure in terms of accessories to rival the iPhone and iPod. All manner of cases, stands and AC chargers were being shown and even devices to hold iPads in cars for playing movies for the kids were being demoed.
It is Earth Day and while we normally hold our free Annual eWaste Recycling Event this time of the year, we have decided to postpone the event for a number of reasons. Vermont has passed one of the most comprehensive ewaste laws in the country and our Governor signed that into law this week. It will basically make ewaste disposal free for all Vermonters. Secondly, we chose to use the majority of our charitable giving budget on the Haiti earthquake relief effort and lastly, we would love to do the collection, perhaps in a different location, later in the year or in the following spring.
We continue to accept ewaste for proper recycling every day at all of our locations. Read more about our ongoing ewaste initiatives here.