Apple will begin accepting its own products for recycling, free of charge, beginning today. The company hopes this will discourage customers from throwing away their old Apple products.

Not only is Apple helping out the environment by encouraging customers to recycle unwanted products, it's rewarding customers to do so.

If a customer brings in a product that is deemed to be in good enough condition to re-sell, it will give the customer store credit to buy a new Apple product.

Electronics, including those sold by Apple, are known to contain toxins that leech into the ground. 

Apple is trying to be as "environmentally responsible" as possible. On their website the company boasts their usage of solar and wind energy at its buildings

"What the company wants to do is use all our innovation and all of our expertise to make the planet more secure and make the environment better," said Apple Vice President of Environmental Initiatives Lisa Jackson.

With more than 1 billion iPhones, iPods, iPads and Mac computers sold in the last seven years, Apple's free recycling program will definitely help keep some unwanted devices out of landfills.

Greenpeace, an environmental organization, praises Apple's efforts to be a responsible company in regards to the environment. The organization described Apple as "the most innovative and most aggressive in pursuing its commitment to be 100 percent renewably powered." 

Apple will be adding a new headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. in 2016. The 2.8 million-square-foot building will be powered only on renewable energy. Even their retail stores will follow suit, with about 120 of them already doing so.

In a recent newspaper ad, Apple took out a full page ad to showcase its promises to use renewable energy while taking a shot at Samsung. The company said "there are some ideas we want every company to copy," referring to responsibilities in the environment (and also to Apple's accusations that Samsung copied their product designs).

Finally, Apple will add a green leaf to its logo proving it will continue to support a green way of operation.