Apple Inc. has overhauled the new MacBook family to make it environmentally sound. The new MacBook and MacBook Pro are energy efficient, free of mercury, arsenic, and other toxins, and made from glass and aluminum, which is attractive to recyclers. Steve Jobs calls his revamped MacBooks “the industry’s greenest notebooks.”

The new design likely comes in response to pressure from environmental activist groups like Greenpeace, as well as consumers looking for a computer that is friendly to use and friendly on the environment.

In 2006, Greenpeace created a “report card” to score electronics companies on the toxicity and recyclability of their products. No company fared well, but Apple ranked 11th behind such companies as Dell, Nokia, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, and Sony-Ericsson.

Greenpeace continued to pressure Apple with its “Green My Apple” campaign. Jobs responded with a promise to phase out chemicals such as polyvinyl chloride and brominated flame retardants in all of its products by the end of 2008.

It was a promise he kept.

The new MacBooks tell global warming to cool it: they eschew liquid crystal displays in favor of lower-powered LED backlighting, and the hard drives spin down when not in use. These adjustments add up. When on, the MacBooks use one third of the power of a lightbulb. Even the packaging has shrunk 37 percent.

Daniel Kessler, a press officer at Greenpeace US, said Greenpeace is hopeful that Apple’s green thumb will inspire other electronics companies to change their standards. “Apple is at the vanguard when it comes to design, and we’re really pleased they’re taking the right steps to make a more environmentally friendly product. It should be where the marketplace is going and what consumers are demanding.”

Still, Greenpeace won’t be completely satisfied until Apple operates recycling programs worldwide; currently, their own recycling program applies to North America only.

Although Apple had dropped to 13th place on Greenpeace’s most recent greener electronics ranking, Kessler says Apple’s new line will be re-evaulated during the next quarter.

With the new line of MacBooks that considers the environment, as well as its users, Apple is sure to earn a green thumbs-up.