Some studies say that the average user spends as much as 28 hours a month on the Internet.  Personally I think it is much higher, every one I know spends most of their day on the Internet, even at work.  If you start to look closely at it, Internet surfing is not the most green activity you can do.

Unless you have your computer on solar power, your computer is causing more emissions to be released into the environment because of electricity it takes to run.  Energy is needed to run the power plants in order to generate electricity, which causes more emissions to be released.  The data servers which enable your web surfing are also using up a lot of power and producing emissions in order for you to access their data.  You can even start to figure in how much effect your computer has on the environment by looking at the emissions that were produced in the manufacturing of the computer and its parts.

Frankly, the list keeps growing and you will not find any relief from your 'Green Guilt' if you only think of being green in terms of the amount of emissions that are produced because of your actions.  While reducing emissions is a great technique towards producing a better environment, there are other things you can do to be more green.  One of the easiest ways to green up your Internet travels is to offset the carbon emissions that running your computer produces.

The first thing that you want to do is calculate the amount of CO2 that is produced because of your web surfing.  If the computer is used for 28 hours a month for web serving that's approximately 7.56 kWh of electricity used.  Most monitors use about 120 watts of electricity and a personal computer uses about 150.  Since we know that 1.55 pounds of CO2 are produced from every kWh of electricity generated, multiplying 7.56 kWh of electricity used for the 28 hours of Internet use, by the 1.55 pounds of CO2 we know that we're producing just under 12 pounds of CO2 a month that we could offset.

This is a low number and it does not take too many other activities from you to offset your Internet emissions.

Installing just one 9 Watt LED, instead of 70 Watt bulb, will save 5 pounds of CO2 each month.  If you lower the thermostat on your water heater by 10°, you can save as much as 61 pounds of CO2 each month.  Even leaving the car at home one day a week will start offsetting carbon emissions by anywhere from 13 pounds and 30 pounds.  The differences are for many reasons, including the distance the you may drive to work as well as the fact that some will car pool or take the bus while others walk or ride the bike.

So, next time someone tells you an activity that you enjoy doing is creating a lot of carbon emissions and the environment remember to keep it in perspective and remember that you can offset the emissions, even your web surfing can be green.