Some mega-corporations talk big about going green, but their actions speak louder than their words and marketing. So say green fanatics Greenpeace in Version 11 of the Green Gadget Guide, smacking down HP, Dell, and Lenovo while beautifying Samsung, and especially Nokia.

"We're giving HP, Lenovo and Dell a penalty point in our updated guide, for breaking their promises to phase-out toxic chemicals in 2009. Of the world's five top PC makers, only Apple is truly kicking the habit. Meanwhile Philips has jumped from 15th to 4th place in the list of electronics companies who are cleaning up their act."

PC makers HP, Dell and Lenovo fell behind because they're not planning to eliminate vinyl plastic (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from their products by the end of this year, while Apple did so. Apple still draws the ire of the Greenpeaceniks, though, hanging on to those PVC-laced power cords.

These companies are in the business of making money, not cleaning up the planet. Expect them to do the bare minimum — and act like they're doing more — hoping that gadflies like Greenpeace are lost in the marketing noise while the WALL-E-like garbage heaps of toxic chemicals continue to mount up to the sky.

Via Greenpeace