5 facts around the carbon cost of digital advertising

5 facts around the carbon cost of digital advertising

When we think about digital marketing, there's an easy assumption that we're naturally talking about a green and environmentally-friendly industry. After all, by migrating to digital methods, we instantly remove paper and physical materials from the mix - right? And with the switch to the cloud, we remove tons of servers?

But you may be surprised to know that the wider digital industry is actually a huge polluter in its own right, thanks to the vast demands of the internet as a whole. Let's take a look at some facts that put this into context.

1. Think that airlines are the biggest problem... think again

Travel is an obvious focal point for removing carbon from the atmosphere. But actually, the internet is the biggest driver of carbon emissions between the two industries, representing around 4% of all global emissions. Every email you click on, every URL you visit, every piece of content you view - it all puts a load on the system and emits carbon. Suddenly the funny cat video is less funny.

2. If the internet were a country...

It would have the world's third-biggest carbon footprint, after China and the USA. And if you use the internet or work in the digital industry, you're a citizen.

3. Ad campaigns are more damaging than the average person

Estimates suggest that the average digital advertising campaign emits as much carbon as the average British consumer produces in an entire year (and a third of what the average American consumer produces). Suddenly those ad banners seem a little costly.

4. And how many trees would be needed to offset a digital campaign.

Take one digital campaign - plant 90 new trees and give them a decade to reverse the negative outputs of that same campaign. Consider how many ad campaigns are launched around the world in a single day.

5. The industry is officially worried

Research by AdLand found that 70% of people working in the industry have some degree of awareness and concern about the issue and almost half now questioning whether they should be working in their current roles. This makes sense, as the average digital agency in the UK is as damaging to the environment as nearly 19,000 cars on the road... emitting around 84,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. Interestingly, this is the same amount of carbon dioxide that would be emitted from heating and powering over 10,000 homes for a full year.

Visit out website to learn more about how we can help to your carbon footprint with our sustainable advertising solution. https://www.threeps.media/

Threeps - Advertising with purpose.