Curious Nature: Your inbox is heating up the planet (and other tech surprises)
Adobe Stock licensed by Walking Mountains
When we talk about fighting climate change, most of us picture solar panels, electric cars or compost bins. But here’s a surprise: your overflowing inbox, AI chats, Zoom marathons and cloud photo hoards are all quietly burning energy in massive data centers far, far away from the Eagle River Valley.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centers and networks already use about 1–1.5% of global electricity, and demand could nearly double by 2030 as AI and cloud storage expand. That means the way we email, text, stream and store files has a real (and growing) climate footprint.
Many of us try our best to do little things every day to be better stewards of the environment. We don’t hesitate to compost that banana peel (removing the sticker first) or throw that aluminum can in the recycling bin. We know deep down that the individual item or action does not do much in the grand scheme of things, but we do it anyway. But why do we not take similar actions with our digital habits? What does it take to be a better steward of technology for the environment?
Email vs. Text Messaging: The Digital Postage Stamp
That “just checking in” email? It feels weightless, but sending one short, no-attachment email uses about 0.2–0.3 grams of CO₂ (The Carbon Literacy Project).
By contrast, a plain SMS text message uses less energy, around 0.014 grams CO₂ per message, and some estimates put it as low as 0.002 grams (Mike Lee, How Bad Are Banannas, the Carbon Footprint of Everything).
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For quick nudges (“Still good for 3 pm?”), send a text instead of an email. Save the inbox (and the planet) from another lonely “Got it, thanks” (insert “thumbs up emoji via text instead).
Cloud Storage: The Hidden Hoard
We love to say things are “in the cloud,” but really, our files are stored in giant warehouses filled with servers that need power and cooling. In 2022, data centers consumed 240–340 terawatt-hours of electricity, about as much as the entire country of Australia (IEA).
According to Greenly, a household with 2 people using 1 TB of data stored in the cloud comes out to roughly 100 kWh per year, which would account for a whopping 5% of their typical annual energy consumption.
Tip: Do a digital “spring cleaning.” Delete duplicate photos, clear old archives, and upload only what you need. Delete unnecessary emails, or better yet, unsubscribe from newsletters you no longer want to receive. Every email stored in your inbox lives in the cloud. Do you really still need that Black Friday Sale email from 2019?
Artificial Intelligence: The Hungry “Brain”
AI can draft emails, summarize reports, even write a meal plan for a family vacation, but it’s not exactly low-carbon magic. Training a single large model like GPT-3 used about 1,287 megawatt-hours of electricity (equal to what 120 U.S. homes use in a year) and released 552 metric tons of CO₂—similar to driving 123 gas-powered cars for a year (Insights Integration, Vault Electricity).
Tip: Use AI when it saves real resources. Maybe skip the “write me a haiku about my dog’s breakfast” requests (fun as they are). For simple searches or requests, don’t forget we can simply “Google it.” A traditional internet search uses far less energy than the same search using AI. Do you really need ChatGPT to tell you what time the Post Office closes today?
Video Conferencing: Lights, Camera, Carbon
Remember those all-day Zoom calls during the pandemic? They kept us connected, but not carbon-free. A one-hour HD video call can generate 150–1,000 grams of CO₂, depending on video quality and network efficiency (MIT Technology Review). That’s like driving 1–5 miles in a gas car.
Tip: Need to talk but don’t need to see each other? Switch the camera off; doing so can cut emissions by up to 96%. For small meetings, perhaps a traditional conference call will suffice. Bonus: no one will notice you’re in pajama pants.
The Local Angle
The Climate Action Collaborative’s goal is for Eagle County to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. While tackling transportation and buildings brings the biggest wins, our digital habits matter too. By cleaning up inboxes, trimming cloud files, sending texts instead of emails for quick check-ins, limiting unnecessary AI queries, and flipping off the Zoom camera when possible, we can all slim our online carbon footprints.
Think of it as a digital carbon diet. Every deleted email, every cleaned-up file, every camera-off meeting is like biking instead of driving, it adds up.
Whether it’s your inbox, your cloud, your chatbot, or your Zoom square, every click counts.
Paul Abling is the senior marketing & communications director at Walking Mountains Science Center.
