By 2020, the growth of the Internet of Everything will have led to more than 50 billion active wirelessly connected devices, according to some predictions. While some argue that the electrical demands sure to accompany this surge may have a negative environmental impact at first, the long-term positive effects of the IOE movement are likely to reduce people’s carbon footprint for years to come.

Those reductions are already being seen. The Nest thermostat, for example, which raises or lowers the temperature of your house depending on whether you’re there, makes the device carbon neutral in just eight weeks, the company says. In some cases, it happens in as little as two weeks.

Read more at Wired.com