OBJECTIVE:
Deleting spams and unwanted mails in order to consequently reduce carbon emissions and saving energy used for such mails.
Our aim was to bring about a change in peoples’ mindset on what an individual’s small step could lead to a big change. The emails that are transmitted over the internet are being stored in multiple mega-servers around the world. These unwanted and spam emails consume high amounts of electricity every day, which is generated by fossil fuels resulting in global carbon emissions. So the correlation is straight up, “Emails cause carbon emissions”.
Around 62 trillion spam messages are sent every year, requiring the use of 33bn kilowatt hours (KWh) of electricity and causing around 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
We spread the message via poster and messages and circulated a feedback form to keep a count on the number of entries and emails deleted by each individual. The event was organized under the name “Metanoia”, meaning – change in one’s way of life.
The event was termed ‘Metanoia’, meaning “the journey of changing one’s mind, the way of life”. It was conducted from 5th November, 2020 to 15th November, 2020 through social media platforms.
POSTERS:
CONCLUSION:
We successfully conducted and completed the event and have received positive feedback. We received 125 responses and few individuals pledged to de-clutter their E-mails frequently. Based on a 2010 case study by McAfee (https://medium.com/@parthgarg19/what-if-deleting-emails-could-save-our-planet-8667584367ee), it is estimated that for each spam mail deleted, 0.3g of carbon dioxide emission is prevented. The following is the analysis of the response we received:
Total number of E-mails deleted = 82,587
Carbon dioxide emissions prevented = 24.78kg
We reached out to as many as possible and obtained a successful outcome.
