Netflix, Blockbuster, apples, oranges

So the question was: which is better for the environment? Renting movies from your local video store, or using Netflix. You can read all about it here.

The answer seems to be Netflix. But this bit of the story makes you wonder:

"Still, it turns out that transportation accounts for only a small amount of the energy it takes to make and deliver a DVD. In fact, if the Journal of Industrial Ecology study is right, 30 minutes spent reordering your queue—in a well-lit, climate-controlled room with the computer running—will use far more energy than the actual Netflix delivery and about as much energy as it would take to drive your hybrid to a store a half-mile away."

Uh, and what if you sat in the same room in the same light with your computer off? For that matter, what if you sat in that well-lit room with the computer and lights off? Do you turn your heat off when you're not reordering your queue? Do you turn your computer off when you're not reordering your queue?

But then, there is this: would you really get in your car to drive a lousy half-mile?

Don't answer that.