A new study by Uswitch - a UK-based price comparison service that allows consumers to compare prices for energy services, personal finance, insurance and broadcasting services - has done a website analysis (websites) for the most popular fashion shopping.
The study is based on data from the UK, but it can definitely serve as a good guide to understanding which sites are less environmentally friendly. Victoria's Secret site is considered "dirtier" because of the carbon footprint.
The report from Uswitch looks at everything from the way a website is maintained to the font size, images used and their impact on a website's energy efficiency.
The study found that the company's website emits 6.64g of carbon dioxide (CO2) per click on the homepage, compared to just 0.29g of CO2 per visit issued by H&M. Just 135 online visits to Victoria's Secret equate to the same carbon emissions as when driving for 5 miles.
More and more internet activity is being talked about the negative impact on the environment. In January of this year, a new study from Purdue University in the US estimated that an hour in video conferencing emits between 150 and 1000 grams of carbon dioxide.
The researchers found that leaving the camera off could help reduce carbon footprint. Streaming video in standard clarity instead of high definition can result in a 86% reduction.
This was the first study of its kind to observe how internet infrastructure also affects water and land use, not just carbon emissions.
- Turning off the camera through video calling reduces your environmental impact by 96%
- 10 things we can easily give up to preserve the environment
- The most famous tourist places in the world that may disappear within a century
- Consequences of climate change: Will the Mediterranean be too hot for tourists?
