From Big Blue’s ad campaign touting the benefits and return on investment to businesses going green to the many recent “Green” software and hardware product launches, the information technology and telecom sectors are getting serious about embracing eco-friendly ideas and solutions.

This week Sony Ericsson announced the creation of their GreenHeart phone and launched their environmental warranty for recycling products. As well, rumors that Apple will soon be selling an eco-friendly aluminum notebook have Mac devotees already cueing in lines in front of their stores.

Although these two new green products are likely the result of consumers’ growing environmental IQ, we should never underestimate the impact of stakeholders like Greenpeace who work diligently to keep companies honest.

For example, Greenpeace’s “A Greener Apple campaign” has contributed to Apple’s starting to develop products using more eco-friendly processes.

The Greenpeace campaign’s faux-Apple webpage describes how Apple creates unnecessary waste and calls on consumers to hold Apple accountable. In response to thousands of Apple users voicing their protests through Greenpeace’s interactive letter campaign, Apple’s founder and CEO Steve Jobs announced that the company has had a “change in policy”, and consumers can expect the company to go green.

If a technology titan like Jobs can succumb to the Greenpeace’s pressure, one must ask, who’s next on the green activist’s radar?

By Grant Draper at The Element Agency in New York.