I find the original Apple cables generally very short lived these days. I bought a USB-C to Lightning cable to charge my phone when the Touch Bar MBP came out, and it's already come apart (< 2.5 years). Similar with the USB-C power cable. I mean, it's just $19 + $35 to replace them, but still.

I wonder whether it's related to the push to be more environmentally friendly.

I'm thinking this is probably related to them going PVC and Phtalate free. While the avoidance generally could be seen as laudable from a environmental perspective, it might have been counter productive in this particular instance, especially since the cable itself can't be replaced without replacing the entire charger.

It really has to be a nightmare trying to optimize cables for environmental friendliness, especially in an environment where the looks are so important. I don't know about all the options as I'm not in the business, especially for white cables there simply doesn't seem to be many, or even any reasonable option.

Notably, the newer generation of chargers seems to have replaceable cables. Maybe that's the least bad?

Did you mean to ask whether Apple are making their cables fall apart more easily in an effort to make the more environmentally friendly?

That's an interesting take. I don't think it holds up because their charge cables have been falling apart before the charger reaches end of life for at least as long as I've been using MacBooks, so 13 years.