Every email campaign has a carbon footprint. Find out yours.
4g CO₂
Carbon emitted per standard email
50g CO₂
Carbon emitted with large attachments
300M tons
Annual CO₂ from emails worldwide
We estimate the size of your email including all content and attachments
We calculate the energy used by servers to process and store your email
We factor in the number of recipients to calculate total carbon impact
Our server energy calculations are based on a comprehensive model that accounts for the entire email lifecycle:
We use industry-standard metrics of 0.008 kWh per GB of data processed in modern data centers, accounting for server operations, cooling systems, and network infrastructure.
Email transmission across networks consumes approximately 0.002 kWh per GB of data, factoring in routers, switches, and transmission infrastructure.
We estimate 0.001 kWh per GB per month for email storage, multiplied by an average retention period of 3 months across all recipients' inboxes.
Energy consumption is converted to carbon emissions using a global average of 442g CO₂ per kWh, adjusted based on regional energy grid carbon intensity where possible.
Total CO₂ = Email Size (GB) × Recipients × (Data Center + Transmission + Storage) × Carbon Factor
Email created and stored on sender's server
Email sent through network infrastructure
Email received and processed by recipient servers
Email stored in recipient inboxes for months
When you create an email, your device and the email server consume energy. The server processes the email, validates addresses and prepares it for sending. This consumes approximately 0.003 kWh per email, depending on size and complexity.
Our methodology is regularly updated based on the latest research and industry data on data center efficiency and energy consumption patterns.
Yes, email, much like all of our digital activities, does have a carbon footprint. From the process of writing an email, through to it being sent, stored, opened and replied to. Generating this energy and the use of this equipment are what generate carbon emissions.
The emissions of an email can vary greatly depending on many factors, including its size, the time of day it's sent, how many people it's sent to, and where in the world it is being sent from and to.
According to research from the BBC, OVO Energy, and Statista, approximately 361.6 billion emails are sent on an average day worldwide. By 2027, this number is projected to increase to over 408 billion emails per day. This massive volume means even small optimisations to your email campaigns can have a significant impact.
The chances are, your current email platform runs on standard energy and doesn't proactively attempt to reduce the emissions of your campaigns. An email marketing platform like EcoSend runs on renewable energy sources.
Not only is EcoSend designed to reduce the emissions of your campaigns, but we also invest in climate projects on your behalf to help offset any estimated carbon emissions that couldn't be saved for you.
EcoSend even provides features to help you send more focused campaigns that work smarter, with sophisticated segmentation capabilities that ensure you send the right message to the right person at the right time.
Yes, deleting unnecessary emails can help reduce your carbon footprint.
Research from energy company OVO suggests that if every person in the UK sent one fewer thank you email per day, it would save 16,433 tonnes of carbon a year. Similarly, if every person in the UK sent one fewer email per day, it would reduce carbon emissions comparable to 81,152 flights to Madrid.
By deleting old emails, you reduce the storage energy required to maintain that data on servers.
The carbon footprint of an individual email varies depending on its content and size.
A standard email without attachments produces approximately 4g of CO₂, while emails with large attachments can generate anywhere between 26g and 50g of CO₂.
On a global scale, email communications are estimated to produce around 300 million tons of CO₂ annually.
Research has also found that if the internet were a country, it would be the 4th highest emitter of carbon emissions of any country in the world. Reducing the carbon emissions of your email campaigns is a small but mighty step to help make the internet more sustainable.
Yes, AI tools used in email marketing can contribute significantly to the carbon footprint. For example, research has shown that AI systems like large language models require significant computational resources, which consume energy and produce carbon emissions.
When using AI to generate or optimise email content, this adds to the overall carbon footprint of your email campaign. However, AI can also help optimise targeting and reduce the total number of emails sent, potentially creating a net positive impact when used strategically.
Join thousands of companies making their email communications more sustainable.