If you’ve ever wondered how your email gets from your computer to another inbox, you’re in luck. Google has created a simplistic video showing the basics of how email sent from Gmail travels to its destination. The video is more about how Google has taken extreme measures to lower its impact on the environment, especially at its data centers. There is also an interactive website where you can follow an email’s path, bit by bit, and click on photos and video describing Google’s green tech. The whole project has been dubbed the “Story of Send.”
Erin Reilly, a member of the Google Green team, posted the video over on the Official Google Blog, where she touts Google’s commitment to mitigating environmental impact and describes the “Story of Send” interactive website. From the blog post:
We’ve included videos and photos throughout the journey so you can explore certain areas more deeply. For example, if you’re curious what data center servers look like, we’ve included some photos. Or you can watch a video to learn about how we purchase clean energy from wind farms near our data centers. And because technology doesn’t always have to be serious, you might find a vampire or two lurking around or uncover other surprises on the journey.
Google has evidently gone to great lengths to make sure it limits its impact on the environment. In the “Story of Send” video, Google claims that its data centers use 50% less energy than a “typical” data center. The company also uses “natural” methods to cool servers and, when possible, it purchases electricity from wind farms near data centers. Google also makes the bold claim that, “we are the only internet company to have eliminated our impact on climate change since 2007.”