You may hate spam because it clutters up your email, wastes your time and teases you with talk of Nigerian princes offering to enlarge your penis. But did you know it's killing the environment, too?
According to a recent study by computer security firm McAfee, the amount of spam emails sent last year (62 trillion) created the same amount of carbon emissions as 2 billion gallons of petrol burnt in a car engine. Overall, the amount of energy expended in the creation, transmission and processing of spam for last year is equivalent to the energy usage of more than 2 million typical homes. Unsurprisingly, McAfee took this opportunity to position themselves as defenders of the environment, as SVP of Product Development Jeff Green explains:
Stopping spam at its source, as well investing in filtering technology, will save time and money, and will pay dividends to the planet by reducing carbon emissions as well.
In related news, each employee of McAfee has personally sworn to save one endangered species a year for as long as they're with the company.
Spam tramples environment with huge carbon footprint [New Scientist]