With the iPhone hitting stores, Apple will be raking in the greenbacks. Now the company is getting the thumbs up from Greenpeace.

Just the other day I was teasing Apple for getting rotten grades from environmental watchdogs like Climate Counts and Greenpeace. These groups were saying Apple was doing next to nothing about reducing the harm it does to the environment with its manufacturing operation and the energy its products consume.

Well, now Greenpeace is saying Apple has turned over a new leaf. A personal letter from Apple founder Steve Jobs on the company’s Web site stated that the company’s “stakeholders” [read: environmentally conscious customers] “want us to be a leader in this area.”

In the letter, Jobs said he has been investigating Apple’s current practices and progress toward becoming more eco-friendly. He said he was “surprised to learn that in many cases Apple is ahead of, or will soon be ahead of, most of its competitors in these areas.”

Basically, Jobs provided a rundown of the toxic chemicals Apple will be phasing out of its products by 2008 and how it’s trying to promote recycling of its old products.

Greenpeace is pleased by this announcement, but the organization noted that “it’s not everything we asked for.” Apple will accept old products from customers in the United States for recycling, but Apple isn’t extending that policy internationally yet. Other companies do recycle their products globally, Greenpeace said.

Also, this Apple announcement addresses the complaints from Greenpeace about toxic chemicals. But there is still work to be done. Climate Counts, with its scorecards, has noted that Apple still has to address the amount of greenhouse gases its products contribute to the environment. Jobs’ open letter on Apple’s Web site says he’ll be sharing more on that issue later this year, maybe. Until then, Apple has a little more work to do.