Counteract Your Scrolling to Save the Earth

Hands up if you sent an email today. Keep them up, if you doubled that. Three, anyone?

Alright, I’m not counting to 306 billion - that’s how many are sent in a day!5

Each email eats up 1.5g of CO2.4 To put that in perspective, driving one mile in a compact car uses 411g.6 That’s hitting the gas for 19 feet each time you click send. And don’t get us started on reply all emails.

That’s just a click, now imagine the simple flick of the finger to scroll. That takes our carbon footprint up a notch! According to Statista, which studied social media use in France in 2020, one minute of scrolling on Instagram is about the same as driving 43 feet. And admit it - we’re all guilty of going from 0 to 60 each time we pick up our phones.

As Pinterest takes on climate misinformation, we can show our thanks to the Earth by countering our carbon footprint with a home garden. A big sun bonnet is just a bonus! Whether you have an acre or a balcony, anyone can have a green thumb (to go with our ‘red’ index fingers.)

First off, when you grow your own fruits and veggies there’s no need for fossil fuels to drive them from your yard to the kitchen. And no single-use plastic needed to bag it up and display it. These little things add up fast. Food gobbles up a lot of a household’s carbon footprint accounting for 10-30%.10

Not to mention, the food is fresh and free of harsh chemicals and pesticides. And the green in your garden will save your green in the bank!

It doesn’t have to end at harvest, composting can bring gardening full circle. According to the EPA, composting is good for soil, reduces need for chemical fertilizer, and reduces methane emissions from landfills.11

So the next time you scroll, get inspired by some gardening tips, then plant a seed and do your part to keep your carbon footprint down.

1 https://www.indulgexpress.com/tech/2021/dec/17/heres-how-social-media-scrolling-is-damaging-the-environment-37813.html#:~:text=Energy%20consumption,by%20Facebook%2C%20Snapchat%20and%20Reddit.

2 https://greenspector.com/en/social-media-2021/

3 https://earth.org/how-social-media-habits-are-contributing-to-internet-pollution/

4 https://www.google.com/search?q=amount+of+energy+used+scrolling+instagram&sxsrf=ALiCzsYudcEKAYOY5YYIYNHrk27jD9j7sw%3A1652611010863&source=hp&ei=wteAYovvMLLXkPIPyp2D4Ao&iflsig=AJiK0e8AAAAAYoDl0oYhZ6vmRFjPf-8oT_iBZypFPGl8&ved=0ahUKEwiL2IDip-H3AhWyK0QIHcrOAKwQ4dUDCAk&uact=5&oq=amount+of+energy+used+scrolling+instagram&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQghEKABMgUIIRCgAToECCMQJzoRCC4QgAQQsQMQgwEQxwEQ0QM6CwgAEIAEELEDEIMBOg4ILhCABBCxAxDHARDRAzoRCC4QgAQQsQMQgwEQxwEQowI6CAguELEDEIMBOg4ILhCABBDHARCjAhDUAjoFCCEQqwJQAFjxM2DMNWgAcAB4AYAB2wKIAcESkgEIMC4xMS4yLjGYAQCgAQE&sclient=gws-wiz

5 https://www.statista.com/statistics/456500/daily-number-of-e-mails-worldwide/

6 https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/P100JPPH.TXT?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=2011+Thru+2015&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5Czyfiles%5CIndex%20Data%5C11thru15%5CTxt%5C00000011%5CP100JPPH.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=1&SeekPage=x&ZyPURL

7 https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/05/24/scrolling-doesn-t-just-waste-your-energy-it-wastes-the-planet-s-too

8 https://hbr.org/1994/07/the-challenge-of-going-green

9 https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/ilriverhort/2020-08-03-grow-your-own-vegetables-benefit-your-health-and-environment

10 https://css.umich.edu/factsheets/carbon-footprint-factsheet

11 https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home#benefits