We use them for almost everything. Send a «thank you», or a «good weekend» after receiving the transcendental information. They are just our ways of behaving politely in front of a scenario of pure formality. However, a British study and published by the Reuters agency states that such unnecessary e-mails can be a risk to the planet.
Researchers estimate that 64 million useless messages are sent every day by the British. According to the investigation, only the United Kingdom could save 16 433 tons equivalent to carbon that corresponds to nothing more and nothing less than 81 152 flights between London and Madrid, for example.
According to an eco-responsible computer expert, the estimate estimated by the company OVO Energy, the research organization, «is realistic.» From his point of view, Frédéric Bordage, the expert consulted, states that this amount of carbon could mean an average of 281 111 kilometers of car travel.
«If I send an email that takes me a minute to write for five people who take 30 seconds to read, the environmental impact is, in descending order of importance, the reading time of my five correspondents, the time of writing, transport, a fortiori if emails are transported in 4G, then only after storage», Bordage explained.
At the same time, he affirms that the panorama could develop a quite fatalistic and dramatic trend such as the elimination of computers and smartphones. «The main challenge would be to make fewer computers, fewer smartphones and use them for as long as possible. Around 80% of the reduction in digital impacts would come from there», he said.