Electronic mail, or emails, saw the belief that we can help save the environment by cutting down on paper usage to send letters. Though, while emails may not be physical, it appears that they can definitely leave behind a carbon footprint.
Which is why we need to start deleting our unwanted emails.
Based on a report by Green Matters, emails that are not deleted are kept in cloud storage, which takes up a ton of electricity. Unfortunately, in many places around the world, this electricity is still generated with fossil fuels.
So, even though emails have reduced paper usage, storing them still contributes to carbon emission. That means that, the more emails you have lying in your inbox, the higher bigger your carbon footprint is.
Eco2 Greetings shared that a year’s worth of emails can contribute 136kgs of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), which carries the same impact of driving around 322 kilometres in a petrol-powered car.
It was also reported that 107 billion spam emails were sent and received in 2019, and if everyone deleted just 10 of those emails each, 1,725,00 gigabytes of storage space and around 55.2 million kilowatts of power can be saved.
So, the best way to help reduce the size of our carbon footprint is to delete old, unwanted, unread, junk emails that’s taking up cloud storage space.
After all, it’s not like you’d need them if you haven’t looked at them in years, right?
We’re going to start deleting our old emails today.
Will you join us in the fight to cut down on carbon emissions? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Also read: These Scientists Got Arrested For Trying To Warn Us Of Potential Destruction & We NEED To Listen
