


Going Paperless Doesn’t Going Green

Perhaps we can finally say goodbye to those simplistic “Go green, go paperless” promotional campaigns. There’s nothing particularly green about the massive data centers that store the internet’s data, The New York Times revealed after in-depth investigation. Data centers waste electricity and spew pollutants in a way that “is sharply at odds with its (the information industry’s) image of sleek efficiency and environmental friendliness,” the lengthy but clearly written “Power, Pollution, and the Internet” says.

“The industry has long argued that computerizing business transactions and everyday tasks like banking and reading library books has the net effect of saving energy and resources.” But data centers use more electricity than the paper industry, according to the The Times.

Among other highlights of the article:




Most of the data are created by consumers. “With no sense that data is physical or that storing it uses up space and energy, those consumers have developed the habit of sending huge data files back and forth, like videos and mass e-mails with photo attachments.”

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