As summer temperatures surge and so-called ‘heat dome’ weather phenomena become more frequent, increasing environmental concerns are pushing corporations to reevaluate their carbon footprints. Much of the discourse around this issue is not novel – we’re familiar with the calls to drive less, recycle more, and curb our consumption of plastics. However, an often-overlooked contributor to an organization’s carbon footprint is its data use practices.
It may come as a surprise to many that storing company data yields a significant amount of carbon emissions. In an age where data volumes are expanding exponentially, the environmental impact of data storage stands to increase proportionally. Companies that have made strides towards more sustainable operations might be taken aback by the potential scale of emissions produced by their data storage processes.
While more detailed analysis of this issue is available in the referenced Law.com article, it’s crucial for all firms to recognize and address this often unnoticed aspect of their operations in their quests to become more eco-friendly. The path to minimizing our collective carbon footprint, it seems, may run as much through our data centers as it does our roadways and recycling centers.