How to see your Google Workspace carbon footprint data

If you are eco-conscious, finding out your carbon footprint is very important in today’s world. As an individual living in urban settings following a set daily routine can often distance you from the harsh reality of the world, such as global warming and its impact on vulnerable populations. With rising temperatures, ice caps melting, and increasingly erratic climate patterns, many are struggling to find livable habitats. And we are all contributing to the problem with our carbon footprints, even if we are simply working from home and are just on laptops all week long. To know the truth, you should check your Google Workspace carbon footprint data.

For the unaware, carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organization, or community. Even if we are not flying in private jets, burning down forests, and destroying biodiversity crucial for our ecosystem, we are all contributing to it indirectly. And the measure of our contribution is our carbon footprint. Let us take a look at how it works.

Why does the carbon footprint matter?

We are all using resources and those resources need energy, which comes from somewhere. Let us take two examples to help you understand what your carbon footprint actually means. Let us assume a person goes to the office five days a week. One could assume that their carbon footprint amounts to the carbon dioxide produced during the commute. But that’s not true. If they go to an office with central air conditioning, and they plug into the electric socket to charge their laptop, all of it contributes to their carbon footprint. That energy comes from some source and usually, that method also produces carbon dioxide. Similarly, if they drink 3 cups of coffee while at the office, that coffee machine also consumes energy.

Similarly, most people who use Google Workspace, or any cloud computing service, would have their data stored on servers, that require a huge amount of energy to keep running. Everything, from the emails in your inbox to the files in your Google Drive all have an energy currency attached to it.

Now, that you have understood the importance of knowing the carbon footprint, let us take a look at how to check the Google Workspace carbon footprint.

How to check Google Workspace carbon footprint

To check the Google Workspace carbon footprint, you should have the administrator privilege in your organization. Once you have access, you can go to the Admin Console and head over to Menu. Look for Reporting and find the option for Carbon Footprint in it.

From there, you can see an overview, app-wise breakdown, a comparison of your organization’s footprint with other organizations in your locality, and more.

This data can be foundational in making an eco-friendly strategy to lower your footprint and contribute to improving the world.