Can you buy or sell NFTs without affecting the environment?

cnbctv18.com:

How much would you be ready to pay for a piece of digital art? Going by recent trends in the crypto world, you would easily have to shell out millions of dollars for crypto art collectibles, also known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Last year, a relatively unknown artist, Beeple, sold his piece "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" for a whopping $69 million.

This was a clear signal to the digital art community that this is their chance to hit the mainstream -- a space typically reserved for niche artists that hob-knob with the elites of the world.Almost overnight, even the works of unknown artists started selling for princely amounts. NFTs have the potential to usher in a world where the artists dictate the rules, not the record company or the auction house.

While the initial success of NFTs blindsided many, it was no surprise that they also had a major downside -- NFTs cause substantial carbon emissions just like some other cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.Also read: Novatar—NFT that lets you choose when to age in virtual worldThe NFT trading models consume substantial energy, which results in carbon emissions that harm the planet's ozone layer, warming the planet. Artists believed they could offset the carbon emissions and make sustainable NFTs a possibility.

In an interview with The Verge, Beeple said he believes artists can offset carbon emissions by investing in renewable energy and conservation projects. But in reality, it is much more complex than individual artists combating the high levels of energy their art consumes by taking part in conservation projects.How do NFTs affect the environment?In the world of crypto, the mining process is to be blamed for environmental damage.