Two victories: California and Apple choose the Right To Repair

I’m pleased to share news of two recent victories for consumers and a healthy environment.

First, California adopted the nation’s latest statewide Right To Repair law. Thanks to the Right To Repair Act championed by CALPIRG, Californians will have access to the parts, tools and repair information they need to fix their phones, printers, appliances and other electronic devices when they break.

Then, at a White House event, Apple*, maker of the world’s most popular smartphone, announced it will comply with California’s new law nationwide.

Apple and HP*, America’s largest printer manufacturer by market share, precipitated this seismic shift by declaring support for California’s Right To Repair Act before its passage.

As CALPIRG Director Jenn Engstrom recounts, this marked the first time Apple supported a law allowing consumers and independent repair shops greater access to whatever they need to fix their broken electronics and appliances, thereby helping to reduce electronic waste.

Apple’s actions are a particularly strong sign that the tide is turning in favor of Right To Repair.

Over the past two years, President Joe Biden issued an executive order promoting repair competition for cell phones and tractors, Colorado adopted the first statewide Right To Repair laws for powered wheelchairs and farm equipment, New York adopted the first statewide Right To Repair law for electronics, and Minnesota adopted the most comprehensive statewide Right To Repair law to date, covering a wide range of electronics and appliances.

Underlying this progress is the commonsense notion that repairing what we have means less waste of resources, time, and energy making new stuff we don’t need. Unwinding manufacturers’ monopoly on repair options drives down the cost of repair for consumers, keeping gadgets of all kinds in use and out of the landfill while also avoiding unnecessary and destructive mining.

The Public Interest Network’s organizations, CALPIRG and Environment California, demonstrated what’s at stake at an event on the steps of the Capitol late in the summer, with 500 pounds of e-waste—the amount of e-waste Californians generate every 10 seconds—front and center.

PIRG Right To Repair Senior Campaign Director Nathan Proctor reports that Apple had long been among Right To Repair’s fiercest and most vocal opponents.

PIRG and our repair community allies met this opposition by building a spirited pro-repair coalition including farmers and fixers, spanning geographic and political divides. Complementing PIRG’s efforts, the shareholder advocacy arm of Green Century, The Public Interest Network’s family of green investment funds, filed a Right To Repair resolution directly with Apple calling on the company to embrace repair two years ago.

The result: Apple announced expanded repair access just before Green Century was set to take the matter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

CALPIRG’s multi-year campaign for a Right To Repair law, first garnering a favorable Los Angeles Times editorial and unanimous support from the California Senate, helped bring Apple on board in California. And with the support of the Biden administration, Apple has decided to comply with the Right To Repair Act nationally, bringing the benefits of repair access to millions more consumers and helping to keep more of our phones, tablets and other electronics out of landfills.

Thank you to President Biden and his National Economic Council, Gov. Newsom and California state lawmakers, and Apple CEO Tim Cook and HP CEO Enrique Lores. Congratulations to Jenn and her team at CALPIRG, Nathan and his team at PIRG, Green Century Funds President Leslie Samuelrich and her team, and our friends at Repair.org, iFixit and Californians Against Waste.

CALPIRG is not a registered investment adviser. CALPIRG is not providing any investment advice to any recipient of this communication.  

About Green Century Capital Management 

°Green Century Capital Management, Inc. (Green Century) is the investment advisor to the Green Century Funds (The Funds). The Green Century Funds are one of the first families of fossil fuel-free, environmentally responsible mutual funds. Green Century hosts an award-winning and in-house shareholder advocacy program and is the only mutual fund company in the U.S. wholly owned by environmental and public health nonprofit organizations. 

*As of 9.30.2023, Apple Inc comprised 6.01%, 0.00%, and 0.00% and HP Inc comprised 0.00%, 0.12%, and 0.00% of Green Century Balanced Fund, the Green Century Equity Fund, and the Green Century International Index Fund respectively. As of the same date, other securities mentioned were not held in the portfolios of any of the Green Century Funds. References to specific securities, which will change due to ongoing management of the Funds, should not be construed as a recommendation by the Funds, their administrator, or their distributor. 

You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please visit www.greencentury.com, email [email protected], or call 1-800-934-7336. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing. 

An investment strategy that incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria. 

Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic and political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to a variety of risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation risk. 

This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds. 

The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 235 W Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212. September/2023