Apple is a company that strives to impact the environment as little as possible (or, at least, claims to do so). Whether or not the data reported by organizations like Greenpeace is accurate, Apple is clearly making efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, even when it comes to its retail stores. But are recyclable materials enough to stay green?

ifoAppleStore has an interesting analysis of Apple's stores and of how they are eco-friendly only up to a point. That point is transportation of the materials used to build them, followed by maintenance (light, air conditioning etc).

“...Apple uses lots of natural and recyclable materials when it designs and builds the stores: stainless steel, glass, stone and wood,” says the voice most entitled to speak about Apple Inc.'s retail stores. “This means the materials could have come from used or renewable sources, and once the stores decay in 1,000 years, the materials can be recycled.”

So far, so good. But this is not even the tip of the iceberg as far constructing and maintaining an Apple store is concerned. Already starting with the shipping of the materials, some damage is done to the environment, says ifoAppleStore. “...certain of the materials had to be transported thousands of miles, generating ‘negative credits’ for the pollution created by moving them to the United States. The stainless steel has to travel 5,100 miles to the west coast, probably by ship. The stone travels 4,800 miles to the east coast from Italy, also probably by ship. The window glass and wood come from the United States and Canada respectively, but glass for high-profile store staircases comes from Germany, a trip of at least 3,500 miles by ship.”

Some of the materials are also not that eco-friendly themselves either. The process of manufacturing the glass for Apple's store facades (a flagship feature of Apple's stores) also includes using small amounts of metals. “In Apple’s case, some glass is specified as 'low-iron,' but it’s not clear how environmentally friendly the window or staircase glass really is,” the same report reveals. As for power consumption, “Apple’s figure excludes lighting and HVAC, which would add substantially to the load,” the analysis reveals. This also includes Apple's low-power notebooks that consume somewhat insignificant amounts of power.

On the bright side, two Apple stores have rooftop gardens. On a greater scale, this could potentially lower a city’s urban heat island effect, some believe. Two stores is close to nothing.

For a more detailed overview of Apple's efforts to stay green, see the company's Environment page here.