How sending an email harms the environment

ENVIRONMENTAL concern is often cited as the reasons for paperless billing. Yet customers are still encouraged to print out a bill at home.

Computers and printers also have an impact on the environment – as they quickly become outdated and are sent to landfill.

The ‘green’ approach seems to have bypassed some marketing departments, with many households continuing to receive junk advertisements in the post – particularly from telecoms providers, According to Mike Berners-Lee’s book How Bad Are Bananas: The Carbon Footprint Of Everything, an email with an attachment can be worth as much as 50g of carbon dioxide emissions. By comparison, experts estimate that posting a letter is worth between 19g and 30g. This is because the electricity required to support the functions of a home computer is extensive – around 800 kWh over one year. That electricity typically comes from power plants burning carbon fuels – which pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The contradiction is not lost on customers.

Tired of hearing the ‘green’ excuse, Steve Balfour, from Aberdeen, aired his views to The Mail on Sunday.

He says: ‘Companies often quote the environment as an excuse to remove the choice of paper billing.

‘Yet this claim is based on either ignorance or arrogance. Companies should at least be honest and admit that refusing to send paper invoices is a cost-cutting exercise.’