When you think about pollution, the first figure that comes to mind are the classic exhaust gasses from factories and cars. However, since eco-sustainability has become a hot topic in every part of the globe, the analysis of the causes of pollution has also involved other sectors. Especially the world of email, being now for years one of the most used communication channels by most people around the world. According to Ademe, the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management, it has been calculated that the sending of 8 e-mails emits the same amount of carbon dioxide as that produced by a car that travels 1 km. If we consider a medium-sized company the numbers skyrocket. A company with 100 employees who send an average of 33 mails a day for about 220 days a year produces approximately 13.6 tons of CO2, equivalent to 13 round trips from Paris to New York.
The research carried out by Adame
The scientific committee made available by Adame wanted to investigate what was the environmental footprint of one of the most widespread web practices in the world: sending email. A series of researches and studies with the aim of demonstrating that even some practices carried out on the web, and more generally the internet as a network, can compromise the well-being of our planet. Like car travel or intercontinental flights, emails also contribute to CO2 emissions. For each mail message, up to 20 grams of CO2 are emitted, if you also calculate the current that feeds the PC and that of the servers involved in sending.
Behind the simple click of the Send button, there is actually a whole world that can compromise the health of the environment. Each message is copied about 10 times from the various servers before it can reach its destination. A whole series of steps that require electricity and therefore produce harmful emissions.
How to try limit the damage
Tessa Gelisio, environmentalist and president of ForPlanet Onlus, was charged with finding a solution to the problem. On her blog Ecocentrica.tv, Tessa has launched a campaign aimed at reducing waste even in an area such as computer science, often poorly considered. We talk about a series of good tips related to the world of email ready to evolve itself towards a green direction. The rules set out in the vadecum are:
1) Think before writing;
2) Reread before sending;
3) Avoid unnecessary CCs;
4) Use mailing lists intelligently;
5) Avoid inconclusive emails;
6) Organize a meeting;
7) Empty the mailbox;
8) Remember the Annex.
A short guide but of vital importance for the environment, with the aim of educating and sensitizing those who abuse mail services, unconscious of the damage it causes to the environment that surrounds us.
