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Apple has arrived. It's hit the big time, and incurred the wrath of a global campaign. Greenpeace is picking it up on its environmental record: a sure sign it's a force to be reckoned with and a notable entity in the public eye.

The campaign is a work of genius. Greenpeace has aped Apple's trademark online style (greenpeace.org), going even so far as shooting its own 'I'm a Mac'-style ad to show how similar Macs and PCs are. When you strip away the pretty cases, intuitive operating systems and bundled software to focus only on the toxins under the hood, they're like two peas in a pod. Toxic flame retardants, polyvinyl chloride, mercury - potentially life-shortening elements once they get in the hands of the children who must live among the far-eastern dumping grounds where they're sent for recycling - are common elements in almost all computers

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and portable music players.

And yet this isn't an anti-Apple campaign. The very first words on the campaign site are simple: 'we love Apple'. So this isn't so much about encouraging us to stop thinking different, but to campaign for an even better Apple - one whose products we can buy not just because they work better and longer than a PC, but because they die in a more environmentally responsible manner.

By supporting this campaign we, too, can benefit. 'Imagine if the next iPod launch was an upgrade to the iPod you already have, with a new component you could just swap out, instead of replacing the entire thing?' says Greenpeace. 'That would save you money, extend the lifespan of your iPod and save the resources and energy required to make a new iPod.' That's a win-win-win situation if ever there was one.

Notable by its absence is any mention of the bigger PC makers. Apple isn't the only manufacturer to use dangerous chemicals in its production process. Almost all of its hardware manufacturing is outsourced to massive third-party fabrication plants where, should you ever be allowed to visit, you'd see iMacs and Cinema Displays being built and packed on conveyors right beside their arch PC rivals.

The fact that this campaign focuses solely on Apple kit, then, is an indication of how important a player Apple has become in a world still largely dominated by Windows and the PC.

It's a campaign we should all support, as it will only make for an even better Apple.