Things we don’t talk about — the Internet and its carbon footprint
Do you know that Internet emits a similar amount of greenhouse gasses as the whole aviation industry?
When I’ve heard that, I was shocked. I knew that there has to be a carbon footprint of (usage of) the Internet but I had no idea about its extent. The person who opened my eyes was Hannah Smith during her talk at the latest Bristol Wordpress community event where she was talking about how developers and content managers can reduce the carbon footprint of their WordPress websites.
Where the carbon footprint comes from?
Internet is not an autonomous self-sufficient being, it requires:
- the energy so we can connect to the web
- devices which need the energy to work
- the energy to have our wifi running
- again the energy to power data centres where everything is stored (remember, the cloud is an abstract expression)
So summing it up we can say that use of the internet requires a lot of energy and with time it will require it even more.
“The cloud — which powers every Netflix binge, PUBG match, and email — has a lining made not of silver, but of carbon.” Wired
In my 17th story from My 52 problems series, I want to explore what we, the data consumers can do to reduce the carbon footprint of our internet usage. Be aware that in this post you won’t find a list of tips and tricks. I want to start a conversation and give a few ideas which we can start with.
How to…
Trying to find something that would guide me on how to minimise my impact on the environment while I’m browsing the web I haven’t found much. Typing relevant keywords in google I came across many apps, but none of them had an option to track usage of energy of my devices and all the requests I make online.
This is why this time like many times before I’ll try to use my common sense and deduct what would be helpful.
Refresh responsively
My first reflection about the energy required to take advantage of the magic of the internet came to me in about 2008 *(yes time of the big financial crash- for me time when I finished Uni and started my first serious job as an editor).
When the deadline for sending the magazine to the printing house was coming and I was stressed that not all the authors send their latest version of the article to be proofread and published I was hitting “refresh” button on my Outlook as crazy hoping it will speed thing up.
It did not.
It was a very bad habit and after few months I reflected consciously that I’m wasting the energy and probably producing a lot of emissions just to feed my compulsion.
It was a lesson since when I set up my mailbox check time to 30 minutes to decrease the energy used for “always ready to ping in a new email” state. I change it only when I’m waiting for the important email but still trying to remember to get back to my default setting.
A nice side effect of such an approach is that I limit the destruction caused by an email which ping in my mailbox when I’m in the middle of something.
Who’s to blame…
When we look at energy usage by components we see that most energy is consumed by our devices which we’re almost glued to. Aren’t you?
Is there something we can do about it?
Battery saving mode seems to be a nice first option to cut on energy usage and extend battery life with one charge. It allows you to monitor the energy usage of your device (but you don't need to check it constantly)and tells you when you have an energy heavy app working in the background. (Quite often it’s the app you’re not using now just forgot to close, like a podcast app you were using on the way to work…guilty as charged.)
Apart from automated settings, you can make few adjustments which will help you to save some more energy. Manual adjustment of the screen’s brightness is the feature I use most often. I turn it up only when I’m outside in the strong light. When I’m at home I keep it low and when I read articles in early morning or evening- especially now when it’s mostly dark outside I keep it very low. It’s good for energy efficiency and your eyes (and a person next to you who’s trying to sleep).
Same with sleeping mode. Don't keep your phone with your screen glowing when you’re not using it, it's easy, just one click away.
Is there anything else?
As an app consumer, you can make informed choices. You can check as Greenpeace suggest if your favourite apps are powered by renewables or dirty energy.
Please talk about it with your friends and co-workers. Silence won’t make the problem vanish, we need to make more conscious choices and use the internet more wisely.
If you have any strategies/ideas on how to reduce the carbon footprint of your web surfing, please let me know!
Thanks for reading.
If you’d like to know more how to reduce the carbon footprint of a website have a look at Hanna’s presentation or better, come to one of her talks.
