14 DAY TRIAL // The process of producing a single DVD with a copy of Office 2007 involves “hidden” costs beyond the actual resources poured into making the product, namely a toll on the environment. In fact, for each Office 2007 DVD that makes it on store shelves carbon emissions roughly equivalent to burning 1 gallon of gas are generated, Microsoft informs. However, the Redmond company has flirted with greener alternatives to selling Office 2007 DVDs, by allowing users to download the bits rather than purchase a packaged product. While the software giant has been shy of revealing whether or not Office 2007 downloads have been a hit with consumers, the strategy has surely been a hit with the company's environmental efforts.
“Microsoft released the results of a comparative carbon footprint study which found significant environmental benefits to providing its software to consumers online. The study concluded that downloading Office 2007 avoided 8 times the amount of carbon emissions compared to producing and shipping a DVD and its associated packaging through traditional retail distribution channels,” revealed Francois Ajenstat, Microsoft director of environmental sustainability.
According to Microsoft, transportation and packaging materials are the main generators of carbon emissions for Office 2007 DVDs. By taking transportation and packaging out of the equation, the Redmond company is immediately left with a much greener product, with no depreciation of the end-user experience.
“The study determined that carbon emissions avoided through online purchasing of 10 million copies is equivalent to: the electric consumption of 7,715 US households, or; 13,008 passengers cars driven in one year, or; 231 acres of avoided Amazon rainforest deforestation,” Ajenstat added. In order to put together the study, Microsoft compared the carbon emissions of 10 million off-the-shelf Office 2007 DVD retail software products with that of 10 million downloads of the solution.