How eco-friendly is your online presence?
// January 12th, 2009 // 9 Comments » // Environment
“So it’s Sunday morning, you’re sitting down at the computer with your cup of coffee, and you decide to search for the latest YouTube hit. You groan. That video is taking too long to load. You open a new window and decide to read the morning paper while you wait for the video to download. This scene may seem innocent enough, but were you aware of the fact that your websurfing has an impact on the environment? Would you be surprised to know that it contributes to a greater global carbon footprint than the whole of the aviation industry? “
According to The Times Online every time you switch on your computer, browse the internet and connect to servers around the world, you are contributing to the 2% of international emissions each year.
Considering that a simple Google search could generate around 7g of CO2 and boiling a kettle about 15g, we need to start thinking of ways to reduce our online carbon footprint.
One way you can take an overall view of your carbon footprint is to use the Food & Trees For Africa Carbon Standard Calculator. Once you know how much carbon dioxide emissions you produce, you can offset these by planting and equivalent amount of trees. In my mind this is an awesome South African initiative.
If you are internationally based, you could also check out www.co2stats.com, for ways to make your website greener in an auditable way.
I already calculated the amount of trees required to reduce my specific Volvo’s carbon footprint and made my donation. What have you done?
