Like Christmas, Black Friday is a time when many online retailers see a huge profit to be made. 

However, there is a hidden carbon footprint when marketing events such as Black Friday, including the emissions created from mass email blasts. 

At EcoSend, we believe greener digital marketing is not just the future but a necessity. 

Keep reading to learn more about the environmental impact of Black Friday emails. Plus we'll share some easy tips to reduce your email carbon footprint that anyone can do today. 

How Many Emails Will Be Sent On Black Friday?

It’s impossible to say how many emails will be sent for certain.

But what we do know is that Statista has calculated that 361.6 billion emails will be sent per day in 2024. 

Total Retail adds that between the period of Black Friday and Cyber Monday last year, brands increased their email sends by 24 per cent. 

In theory, this could result in an additional 86.7 billion emails being sent on Black Friday 2024, bringing the total to 448.3 billion emails.

With most email platforms suggesting brands send at least 3 emails to advertise Black Friday deals, it is often the case that users are overwhelmed when every company starts emailing them at once.  

Did you know?: An estimated 80% of products bought on Black Friday are expected to end up in landfills, be incinerated, or be recycled inadequately.  

The Environmental Cost Of Black Friday Emails 

Black Friday email templates tend to be media heavy, especially when they are advertising goods and services with HD images or videos. 

On the higher end, this can be as much as 26g of CO2. That might not sound a lot, but for large email lists, the amount of carbon produced can be significant. 

Research by Tim Beners-Lee found that email accounts for 0.3% of the world’s carbon footprint, emitting 150m tonnes CO2e in 2019.

This amount of CO₂e is thought to be compared to one person taking 37.5 million round-trip flights between New York and London. 

Worst of all, many companies don’t count their email sending as part of their ESG reporting, because they simply don’t know their email has a carbon footprint. 

Why Does Email Have A Carbon Footprint?

Like all of our digital activities, email has a carbon footprint because it requires energy to send, receive and store messages across the world. 

Granted, some of this carbon is generated from our devices such as our phones or laptops. However, the servers that give you the ability to create an email, send it to your entire database, store any emails, and receive replies also generate CO2. 

One study found the UK’s daily carbon footprint for emails is more than 2,750 tonnes. Multiply that for every country around the world (especially during peak times) and the problem soon becomes clear. 

How Can I Measure & Reduce The Carbon Cost Of My Emails?

Use a free tool such as the EcoSend Email Carbon Calculator to see how much CO2 your email campaigns could be emitting. 

From there, the good news is that you don’t have to stop sending emails this Black Friday, or any other time of year. 

Similar to green web hosting tools, it’s now possible to choose an email provider that is powered by renewable energy. 

Spoiler alert: That provider is EcoSend. 

How to go even further to lower the carbon emissions created by your email and wider digital marketing:

• Reduce image files and use lightweight email templates

• Use segmentation to send the right message to the right person rather than sending mass email blasts 

• Clean your email list to remove inactive contacts regularly to avoid sending emails unnecessarily

• Don’t use scraper tools to buy lists in an attempt to send as many emails as possible to anyone and everyone 

Best of all, these tips go beyond just helping the planet, as they will also help your campaigns! That’s because you can benefit from things such as higher open rates and improved sender reputation by following the above hacks too. 

Swap Black Friday For Green Friday This Year With EcoSend 

If you do any kind of email marketing, then switching to a sustainable email platform is the best way to lower the CO2 emissions of your campaigns. 

EcoSend is powered by renewable energy sources. We’re proud to be different and if you care about reducing the carbon footprint of email, we hope you’ll join us! 

With EcoSend, you get everything you need to send incredible email campaigns but at a reduced cost to the planet. 

Discover our sustainable email platform today with a free trial of EcoSend.