Mindful messaging: A means to reducing digital carbon emission?

I guarantee that we’ve all either sent or received messages like ‘ok’ — just a single word. Depending on what platform that word was sent on, it can emit anywhere between 0.014 and 4g of carbon¹. For context, 4g is about the same weight as four $1 bills (USD). Now consider the weight of carbon you’d be holding if you added all those single word messages together!

If everyone in the UK sent one less ‘thank you’ email each day, then we could avoid the emission of over 16,433 tonnes of carbon each year².

There is something quintessentially British about feeling the insatiable urge to always say ‘thank you’ and, as a result, British people send about 64 million unnecessary emails every day², with ‘thanks’ and ‘have a good day’ ranked among some of the most common but unnecessarily sent emails. If everyone in the UK sent one less ‘thank you’ email each day, then we could avoid the emission of over 16,433 tonnes of carbon each year², equivalent to charging over 7.33 billion (7,329,496,567) phones³.

Now, with a greater appreciation for our digital carbon fingerprint, my annoyance at receiving single-word replies to my long and carefully-constructed messages is justified! Not only is it tedious, but it’s also environmentally inconsiderate. The problem stems, however, from a lack of understanding for internet-related carbon emission, with even the most eco-friendly individuals falling into the trap! Just because we do not see the greenhouse gas emission associated with internet usage, doesn’t mean that it’s not there.

For any sort of message to be sent online, whether it be an essay or a single word, a considerable amount of energy is involved. The internet relies on power-thirsty data centres that serve as its hive mind, and networks of satellites and cabling that globally connect these data centres together. Of course, there is then the emission associated with the electrical demand of powering end-user devices like phones, laptops, tablets and smart TVs⁴. This all adds up to create what we dub our ‘carbon fingerprint’.

An investigation into the unnecessary

I asked around my friends, family and colleagues to compile a list of some of the most commonly sent and received, one-word messages — Make a mental tally of how many of these you often send:

• Ok/Okay
• Hey
• Thanks/thank you
• Lol
• You too
• *insert single emoji here* (usually the somewhat passive-aggressive ‘thumbs up’)
• Yes/No
• Have a good day

If you’ve never sent any of these messages, then congratulations, you’re already close to being a mindful message-er! If you have sent even just one of these messages and do so on a regular basis, then perhaps there’s potential for making your texting habits a bit greener! Here are some of my top tips for mindful messaging:

• Pick your platform: A single message sent via SMS emits 0.014g of CO2, but that same message sent via email will emit 4g of CO2 (285x more). If you’re going to send small or single-worded responses and insist on doing so online, choose a platform that is less consumptive. Just think of all the single-word responses sent around your company office and all the carbon being needlessly emitted.
• Set yourself limits: If your response has less than 5 words in it, is it really worth sending? Equally, consider whether your response is necessary — is this something that you hope to continue a conversation with, or will it just be read and deleted? I could quite happily go without a ‘thank you (or even be ignored) if it meant that carbon wasn’t needlessly emitted!
• Swap back to the SMS: With the advent of countless online messaging apps, the humble text is being forgotten about. Not even my grandma sends me texts anymore so it’s evident how society has been indoctrinated to use these new platforms; but are they any more convenient? Not really! They offer the same function if all you want to do is send text-based messages, so why not make the swap back?

Cutting down on the senseless use of internet communications can massively reduce your carbon fingerprint and whilst the emission associated with our texting habits pales in comparison to the carbon emitted from the global burning of fossil fuels, it highlights how a small (and unintentional) emission from everyone really does add up to something bigger.

Maybe, it’s time for Britain to be a bit less polite and do away with the unnecessary pleasantries.

Curious as to how much carbon is associated with your online life? Go to the Carbon Fingerprint website (https://www.carbonfingerprint.io/), register your interest and not only will we calculate your emission but we’ll help you offset it too!

References

[1]: Goncalves, A. (2019) What’s more sustainable: An SMS, an email or an instant message? https://youmatter.world/en/whats-more-sustainable-an-sms-an-email-or-an-instant-message/ Accessed: 11/02/2022

[2]: ‘Think before you thank’: If every Brit sent one less thank you email a day, we would save 16,433 tonnes of carbon a year — the same as 81,152 flights to Madrid. https://www.ovoenergy.com/ovo-newsroom/press-releases/2019/november/think-before-you-thank-if-every-brit-sent-one-less-thank-you-email-a-day-we-would-save-16433-tonnes-of-carbon-a-year-the-same-as-81152-flights-to-madrid.html Accessed: 11/02/2022

[3]: Greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator Accessed: 11/02/2022

[4]: Andrae, A. S. G (2017). ‘Total Consumer Power Consumption Forecast’. Nordic Digital Business Summit, Helsinki, Finland, 5th October 2017. https://www.researchgate.net/publication /320225452_Total_Consumer_Power_Consumption_Forecast