Apple Wants You To Hug The Earth By Sending More iMessages

It's Earth Day again, so naturally, companies are going out of their way to show how they care for the environment. As tech companies are also traditionally seen as the worst offenders, they also make the biggest noise come Earth Day. Apple, who has long been waging war on that image, has come up with a rather entertaining video add for this green day. Not only does it not so subtly promote its own efforts to be a green company, it is also subtly advertising iMessage to do so.

You might be scratching your head thinking of how iMessage and Earth Day are related, so here's the gist of it. Messages naturally have to go pass through Apple's data centers in the journey from you to your friend, family, or some random stranger. Those data centers, however, are special. They are 100% powered by renewable energy, be it solar, wind, or rain.

So bottom line, when you send an iMessage, you are showing some love for the earth. So send more iMessages, right? Of course, that really doesn't mean you are actually saving on resources. It only means you are using up renewable resources. Which is still better than what most companies with gigantic data centers are doing.

Putting the almost ironic ad aside, the video does underline Apple's continuous efforts to ensure that the it, and the planet, won't be running out of resources soon. It has boasted of converting all its data centers to using 100% renewable energy since 2013. It still has a long way to go to run its entire operations worldwide on 100% green energy, but, as of last year, all its US operations and 87% of its foreign operations do run as such. It has even stepped up its efforts by opening its Apple Renew program to harvesting parts from old iPhones.

Still, you will be using energy when you send an iMessage, whether it be the renewable energy in Apple's data centers or indirectly elsewhere. There really is no escaping the use of energy when we use our devices. So while each iMessage is like a virtual hug for the earth, maybe, on this Earth Day, you can actually send less and give the earth a real hug.