I just read Eric Taub's article on planning for the
cap and trade of carbon emissions, and then I see a report on
how spam emails contribute to global warming. I didn't
consider TwinEngines having much of a carbon footprint,
being a firm that advises on optimizing the manufacturing value
chain and builds IT-based solutions. But we do partner with
email service providers and we do send email newsletters to our
community, and we do receive and deal wth a lot of emails.
According to "The Carbon Footprint of Email Spam Report,"
released by the security firm McAfee, the annual
energy used to transmit, process and filter spam totals 33 billion
kilowatt-hours (kwh).
Chart by McAfee, Inc.
To put it into perspective, eMarketer says that is equal to the
electricity used in over two million US homes - and creates
the same greenhouse gas emissions as 3.1 million cars using 2
billion gallons of gasoline. eMarketer also reports
that nearly 80% of the energy waste created by spam is due to
people deleting it or trying to find
legitimate emails.
At our annual event for small and mid-market companies, Eric
spoke about carbon emissions from transportation, electricity usage
and other facets found in the manufacturing industry. He
didn't mention carbon footprints from generating or just deailing
with spam emails. No matter what side of the debate you
are on, carbon emissions is becomming a business issue that may
very well provide benefits to your company if you are prepared
for cap and trade laws when they appear.
First, if you are not taking advantage of email marketing for
promotional offers and to talk about about your products,
services and your company, then you are most likely missing an
opportunity to generate more business. If you are using other
means such as direct mail, TV, and print, then you may
be not be achieving the cost savings and ROI associated
with email marketing.
For those of us marketing our products and services with email
newsletters though, now there is this issue of the carbon footprint
directly from your emails and indirectly from the email service
provider you choose (If you send your own email blasts from your
PC, please call immediately - 404-522-4262!). Are you
following best practices to generate and manage email lists
and interacting with your customers via email? Are you in
compliance with the Can-Spam Act? Is your web site a souce for
spam emails? Do you filter out spam emails going to your
employees?
There are steps a company can take to contribute in the quest to
reduce spam emails, save energy, reduce carbon emissions and thus
save our planet! McAfee recommends, as a first step, that
businesses instal effective spam filters. They estimates that
spam filtering saves 135 terawatt-hours of electricity each
year - or taking 13 million cars off the road.