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By Claus Schafhalter | April 7, 2010
2009 Microsoft and Intel commissioned a study looking at environmental benefits of digital media compared to old school CD (or vinyl albums, do you still remember?). Researcher at Stanford came to the conclusion that there are energy– and CO2 savings between 40% and 80% when music is distributed digitally as compared to sending CDs.
Another study done by Climate Partner finds that CO2 emissions resulting from sending proofs for ads can be reduced by up to 75% when an online portal is used as opposed to sending via snail mail.
And as can be easily shown the shifts are already under way. Did you buy a music CD at the store or did you download from Amazon or Itunes? Did you use an old fashioned ad in the newspaper to sell your used car or did you post on Craigslist?
The new crop of e-readers like the Kindle and tablets like HP’s Slate or Apple’s iPad enable consuming media digitally instead of printing and delivering books. That saves energy and trees.
To get the most out of this shift I would like to see the manufacturer of our digital devices to emphasis more on sustainability, energy savings, and ability to recycle. If you agree, you can start here!
Claus Schafhalter, Management Consultant @ Sunogos
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