How Do Emails Impact Carbon Footprint?
In a world of digital mail, how can the carbon footprint be quantified?
When thinking about carbon emissions, our minds tend to jump to cars, flights, or factories - not our inbox. But in a world where over 300 billion emails are sent every day, even the smallest digital actions add up. So, how exactly do emails contribute to your carbon footprint?
The Hidden Cost of a Simple Email
Every email you send travels through data centres, networks, and servers - all powered by electricity. While the emissions from a single email are tiny, the cumulative impact is surprisingly significant.
A short email emits around 4g of CO₂e, according to a 2010 study by Mike Berners-Lee in How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything.
An email with a large attachment can produce up to 50g CO₂e or more, depending on file size, storage time, and replication across servers.
The average office worker sends and receives over 120 emails a day, which could result in hundreds of kilograms of carbon per year.
To put it in context:
Sending 65 emails a day for a year produces roughly 1 tonne of CO₂e, the same as driving a typical petrol car for around 200 miles.
In large organisations, internal emails alone can generate several tonnes of emissions annually.
Why Does It Matter?
For organisations aiming to reduce their carbon impact, digital emissions are often overlooked. Yet, they’re part of Scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions from your value chain), and they’re one of the easiest areas to influence. As hybrid and remote work becomes standard, digital efficiency is crucial for sustainability.
Small Shifts, Big Difference
At Algorithmic Solutions, we help organisations measure and reduce digital carbon footprints through smart data analysis. When it comes to emails, some quick wins include:
Reducing unnecessary replies (especially single-word emails like “Thanks”)
Compressing or linking to large files rather than attaching
Deleting old emails and unsubscribing from inactive lists
Optimising server storage and archiving policies
These small behavioural changes, when implemented at scale, can make a measurable difference to your environmental impact.
Our Role
We analyse internal data flows - including emails, storage, and digital behaviours - and translate them into clear carbon metrics. This lets you benchmark digital activity, identify high-impact areas, and take evidence-based steps toward net-zero.
Want to understand and reduce your digital carbon footprint?
Get in touch to see how Algorithmic Solutions can help you take control of the invisible emissions hiding in your inbox.
References
Berners-Lee, Mike. How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything. Profile Books, 2010.
BBC News. “Carbon Cost of an Email.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54983935
Statista. “Average Number of Emails per Day.” https://www.statista.com/statistics/456500/daily-number-of-e-mails-worldwide/
Ovo Energy. “Think Before You Thank: Cutting Carbon One Email at a Time.” https://www.ovoenergy.com/blog/green/think-before-you-thank.html