CO2 Comparison of Digital Business Cards and Paper Business Cards

CO2 Comparison of Digital Business Cards and Paper Business Cards

In the discussion about sustainability and environmental protection, the impact of various decisions on the carbon footprint plays a central role. This also applies to the choice between traditional paper business cards and digital alternatives like the neco business card. To make an informed comparison, we consider the CO2 emissions associated with the production and use of these two options.

Paper Business Cards and Their Carbon Footprint

To calculate the CO2 consumption of paper business cards, we first consider the materials and the manufacturing process. A standard business card weighs an average of 4.5 grams. For a batch of 500 business cards, this results in a total weight of 2.25 kilograms of paper.
According to data, the carbon footprint of paper is about 2.5 tons of CO2 per ton of paper. Thus, the CO2 consumption for the production of 2.25 grams of paper for business cards is approximately 5.625 kilograms of CO2.

Digital Business Cards and Their Carbon Footprint

The digital business card from neco offers an alternative way to exchange contact information without using paper. Instead, information storage and transmission occur via the neco app.
The CO2 consumption of the neco app can be broken down into three main factors:

User’s Phone Usage

Assuming regular use of the neco app (average 0.5 hours per day), a neco user consumes approximately 0.10 kWh of electricity per year, which corresponds to 38g CO2eq. (Source)

Data Storage

An average neco user generates 81 KB of master and transaction data over the lifetime of their account. Storing this data on the neco database consumes 0.001215g CO2eq per user annually.

Bandwidth Usage

For the use of neco Corporate, an average neco Corporate user consumes 267.28 MB per year, producing 145.40g CO2eq. (Source)

Total CO2 Consumption

Adding the CO2 contributing factors, an average neco user consumes 183.4g CO2 per year.

Conclusion

Compared to paper business cards, the use of digital business cards like neco results in a significantly lower carbon footprint. The CO2 savings by using neco compared to paper business cards is approximately 97%.

The comparison between paper and digital business cards clearly shows the ecological advantages of digital alternatives. While paper business cards are associated with significant CO2 consumption, the use of digital business cards offers a more environmentally friendly option. By reducing paper consumption and manufacturing processes, companies and individuals can actively contribute to reducing their ecological footprint and promoting environmental protection.