Everything in this world has a carbon footprint, including the internet. Also referred to as digital footprint, the trace of online activities such as google searches or sending emails have an impact on the environment. It is very hard to see but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. In fact, it is estimated that the internet’s carbon footprint is higher than the carbon footprint that the aviation industry has.
The technology industry and the information communication produce more than 830 million tons of C02 annually which is 2% of the global carbon emissions.
The technology industry impacts the environment in two ways:
1. When manufacturing and shipping servers, phones, computers and many other things.
2. When powering and cooling the technologies as they need power that comes from renewable or non-renewable sources.
Image taken from custommade.com
Here are some facts:
An email has an estimated carbon footprint of 4 grams of CO2 but if it contains a large attachment it can go up to 50 grams of CO2. It might seem like a small number but considering that 306.4 billion emails are sent daily, it’s a quite significant number.
A google search has a carbon footprint of between 0.2 – 7 grams of CO2 but searching on your phone or small devices releases less greenhouse gases than if you were to search it on a computer.
According to the Internet World Stats there are 4,574,150,134 internet users. So, imagine the amount of google searches there must be per day. I know, too many to imagine!
There is a very interesting podcast where they explain how they figured out how much that podcast impacted the environment. A quote by the reporter that is shocking: “According to Kyle’s research, streaming music online emits up to 350 million kilograms of greenhouse gas. In one year. In the US alone. It’s the same as if we drove 74,000 cars for a year.”
The data that cloud services store is increasing as the use of social media, streaming music and videos, sending emails and e-commerce continue to grow.
Some major internet companies have act to turn the energy that they create to store data in the cloud greener by using renewable sources.
How can you reduce your digital carbon footprint?
· Unsubscribe from newsletters you no longer read. It benefits the environment and your inbox doesn’t have hundreds of unread emails. Is a win-win situation!
· Don’t use ‘reply-all’ when responding an email unless everyone needs to know the message you are going to pass.
· If you can talk face-to-face do that instead of sending an email.
· Use a green cloud to store your data
· Turn off computers if you aren’t going to use them for a while.
· Unplug chargers that aren’t being used.
· Use a smartphone for quick searches online
· Use Ecosia when searching because they plant trees. It only takes one second more of your time but is 1000 times better for the environment!
Please remember that small changes do matter because if everyone changes their habits, there can be a big impact on the environment. The change starts with you, don’t wait for others to act before you. Inspire them instead! Spread the word, make people aware of this issue and how they can help.