Save the planet one email at a time.
In Comit we are passionate about the environment and are steering committee members of the rapidly expanding tech movement which is making a positive impact on the planet, Techies Go Green. We know that we couldn’t have made it through lockdown without our tech, but do we know enough about the effect our tech use has on the environment?
Improving our digital carbon footprint is an easy way to help the environment, an ideal new year’s resolution and can improve all of our corporate reputations.
What is our digital carbon footprint?
All of our digital interactions with our devices and the internet define our digital carbon footprint.
Streaming music and TV shows, sending an email, reading the news online or using a laptop or device. It all adds up. If everyone can make a small difference, imagine what your whole business could do.
Five tips to improve our digital carbon footprint
1. Dispose of old tech appropriately – it also makes financial sense
We often see old unused computers lying around the office. Instead of leaving them there, you can dispose of your tech through companies like Vyta.
Vyta offers a nationwide collection service for businesses across Ireland. When your IT equipment is collected, it is completely wiped and prepared for resale, recycled in line with WEEE regulations or shredded and disposed of responsibly so that every single component that can be recycled is recycled.
Vyta collects and resells IT equipment including:
- Servers and storage
- Laptops and desktops
- TFT Monitors
- Printers
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- Network Devices
- Hard Drives
They also provide an IT equipment buyback service, so not only does it make sense for the environment, it makes sense for your financial bottom line. In 2021 they revealed that in the previous two year period they returned €7 million to customers for their recycled devices. You can estimate your businesses’ financial return here.
The environment is the biggest beneficiary of properly recycling e-waste. If these items aren’t properly handled, they can release harmful gases and toxins into the air and soil — harmful for people and the planet.
According to WEEE Ireland, the average home has 193 electrical appliances and 110 batteries, and these all need somewhere to go. Electronics are the fastest growing waste stream in the world, so it’s vital that they are disposed of appropriately.
2. Sort your emails
Delete old emails and clean up folders.
Deleting emails is the easiest way to reduce your digital carbon footprint on the computer. You could also unsubscribe from emails or newsletters you don’t actually intend to read or delete those emails once you’ve read them.
Every single email you send has a carbon cost – a typical year of incoming mail for just one business user creates a carbon footprint of around 135kg according to Green Matters. Sending smaller emails can help reduce this. A regular email produces 4g of co2 while an email with a photo attachment produces 50g. Ask yourself if the email is a necessity. If you are sharing a large document with a group, do they all need an original copy or could a link to a cloud or network version of the document serve the same purpose, with a lower environmental impact?
The same goes for unnecessary documents stored on your devices and servers. They all have a carbon cost.
Create a greener and more positive company culture by bringing in an email policy as people do with printing policies. Don’t send anything unnecessary just as you wouldn’t print anything that’s unnecessary.