While Apple has been hard at work reducing the environmental impact of its devices, there's still much to be done. Case in point is a new petition started online urging the world's most valuable company to source minerals from conflict-free regions of the Congo. 

 

While minerals from the Congo have enriched your life, they have often brought violence, rape and instability to my home country," writes Delly Mawazo Sesete, a Congolese native who started the petition." That's because those armed groups fighting for control of these mineral resources use murder, extortion and mass rape as a deliberate strategy to intimidate and control local populations, which helps them secure control of mines, trading routes and other strategic areas."

 

Sesete goes onto say that while he would enjoy an iPhone, he cannot in good conscience purchase the device until changes are made. "I have seen firsthand the rape, violence, and devastation being fueled by the trade in minerals found in electronics products," he says. 

 

Emmanuelle Chriqui, who played Sloan on the hit HBO series "Entourage," agrees — and has recently started promoting Sesete's petition. “I want the electronics that I use to be conflict-free,” she said, upon announcing her support for the campaign. “Apple is already a leader in the field and could make the first-ever conflict-free electronics with minerals from Congo.”

 

The 34-year-old has been a long-time supporter of the Raise Hope For Congo campaign at the Enough Project. 

 

“The thing about activism is that it has the ripple effect — you put a drop in the pool and it keeps going,” said Chriqui. “Activism comes in so many forms, and the best way to be an activist is asking what are you passionate about and how are you going to get the word out.”

 

So far, more than 57,000 people have signed the petition. To add your name, jump here. 

 

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