Like blockchain, NFTs have a negative reputation when it comes to the environment. Find out why and if this negative influence has changed over the past few years. The volume of digital assets has exploded over the past decade as non-fungible tokens have moved from their creation in 2014 to the near-common commodities they are today. This growing volume of transactions has in turn led to increased levels of energy consumption and carbon emissions, raising questions about the impact NFT to the environment in the real world. The environmental group 8 Billion Trees, for example, estimated that it would take five trees to offset the carbon emitted into the environment on average by each NFT over its entire life cycle, including secondary sales. "The NFT lives in the computer, so as long as it's on the blockchain, as long as it's online, it's consuming electricity," said Marc Lijour, IEEE member and IEEE Canada Blockchain Region Lead. This fact, along with more companies and individuals monitoring the energy consumption and carbon footprint of their activities, has drawn attention to the impact of NFTs on the environment. (Mary K. Pratt)