How to save energy with your document sharing ?
Discover 15+ concrete techniques to reduce your digital carbon footprint when sharing documents. Simple gestures with measurable environmental impact.
Measurable impact
The impact of your actions
Every action counts in reducing your digital footprint
Issues
Why reduce file size?
Real problems caused by large files
Long loading time
Large files take longer to download and send, slowing down your workflow.
Automatic rejection
Email servers automatically reject files exceeding 5-25 MB depending on the provider.
Storage saturation
Inboxes fill up quickly, creating storage problems for your recipients.
Practical techniques
Energy saving techniques
15+ best practices organized by action area
Compression & Optimization
Send a single compressed file
Group your files into a single ZIP rather than multiple separate files
30-60% reduction in total weight
Use WinZip, 7zip or your OS built-in tool to create an archive
90% of data was produced between 2015 and 2017
Prefer single files
One large file is more efficient than several small ones
Avoids unnecessary server compression
Consolidate your documents before sending
10% of the world's electricity is consumed by data centers
Timing & Networks
Transfer during off-peak hours
Schedule your transfers when servers are less busy
Up to 40% energy savings
Prefer 10pm-6am slots and weekends
Data centers consume as much as a city of 50,000 inhabitants
Use WiFi on mobile
4G consumes about 2 times more energy than WiFi
50% energy savings vs 4G
Enable WiFi before your mobile transfers
4G consumes about 2 times more energy than WiFi (Zou et al.)
Transfer from France
Decarbonized countries reduce energy impact
French energy mix < 50gCO2/kWh
Prefer transfers from decarbonized zones
France has one of the cleanest energy mixes in Europe
Prefer local servers
Choose services hosted in France rather than abroad
Reduced latency and carbon impact (French energy mix)
Opt for French solutions with local hosting (e.g. FileVert with Scaleway)
Local hosting reduces transit distance and energy impact
Storage & Duration
Enable auto-deletion
Avoid non-essential server storage
Zero permanent unnecessary storage
Check the automatic deletion option when sending
Impact depends on weight, storage time and number of recipients
Master your storage volume
Keep a reasonable active transfer volume
Continuous server footprint reduction
Regularly delete your old transfers
Permanent cloud storage multiplies impact by 10
Email & Communication
Use links rather than attachments
Avoid multiple email notifications
19gCO2 saved per email avoided
Share a FileVert link instead of sending by email
15.1 billion emails are sent every hour (Statista 2024)
Limit the number of recipients
Send to less than 5 recipients per email
Impact multiplied by number of recipients
Use mailing lists or group sends
20 emails/day = 100km by car/year in CO2 equivalent
Browser & Tools
Choose an efficient browser
Some browsers consume less energy
Up to 20% CPU savings
Use Brave, Firefox or European alternatives (Vivaldi, Opera)
Many alternatives exist to Chrome and Safari
Limit your extensions
Less than 5 extensions for faster tools
Less background activity
Disable unused extensions
Each extension consumes resources permanently
Use an ad blocker
Reduce network traffic and consumption
30-50% less data
Install uBlock Origin or Adblock Plus
Ads represent 50% of average web traffic
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
Answers to common questions about saving energy when sharing documents
Ready to reduce your digital carbon footprint ?
Discover how FileVert can help you share your documents more ecologically.