Please click on the attachment below to read a white paper on 'Calculating Business Value and Environmental Benefit of Digital Software Distribution'.
The paper details a 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.
Microsoft has also launched this paper on their website: (www.trymicrosoftoffice.com/go-green).