Spam is Expensive and not Green

How much does spam cost? Not the allegedly edible kind. The spam that clutters up e-mail boxes with unwanted crap.

A total dollar figure may require some work, however, Yahoo! techie blogger Christopher Null calculates $3 billion worth of electricity is used each year dealing with spam. Null based his admittedly unscientific calculations on McAfee's Carbon Footprint of Spam Report, which also assesses the environmental impact of electricity devoted to spam. Registration is required to see the entire report. Spam's energy demand is equal to the amount of electricity used by 2.1 million American homes.

You are probably wonderng if someone is trying to curb the spam infestation. The Boston Globe recently said government action hasn't helped. Private citizens/businesses, though, are beginning to stifle spam.

Photo by flickr user 10chand available under a Creative Commons license.