Google Guilt

I'm sure most of you heard about the cup-o-tea episode with Google. Well, if not, the UK Sunday Times stated a single Google search was said to emit 7g of CO2. Comparatively, the process of boiling water for a single cup of tea emits 15g of CO2. This was published, and a couple days later the Harvard physicist who was the source of the data denied the statement. Google then challenged the allegations with a few stats. Found on TechCrunch.com, Google compared the emissions of a Google search with the following: a daily newspaper, orange juice, EnergyStar dishwasher, average U.S. automobile, cheeseburger and an average U.S. household. (See graph below for details or refer to article linked at bottom of post.) I understand why this data was released by Google, but I don't think they took the best approach. Why not go straight to the source and find a better way for Google to be more efficient in its emissions? You know Google has a forgiving budget. So buy some carbon offsets, have every employee plant a tree, or be honest, admit, and offer some advice to the global Google following: For Example: "Yes, each Google search emits approx 7g of CO2. We are taking measures to help lower these numbers and would like to encourage you to 'green' your searches by doing the following: (List of ways to lower emissions at home, etc.)" It seems that many others feel the same way, or at least thought Google could have handled the accusations differently. Here is a similar article posted on Treehugger, but if you want to get some reader comments read the TechCrunch mentioned above, "Google Is Greener Than Thou."

-Jacq (@jacqsmith)