Words by Smiley Team
We use the internet for almost everything these days: answering questions, communicating, for entertainment and much more. But while it may seem completely emissions-free, all digital activities have an environmental cost.
Our digital devices, the internet and supportive systems account for 3.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it vital we do our bit to minimise this impact.
Here are four ways to cut your digital carbon footprint through your habits at home and in the workplace.
Before you reach for the latest iPhone, you may want to consider buying an old one instead. Researchers have found that producing a new phone leads to as much greenhouse gas emissions as you would cause by charging and using one for a decade. So secondhand is better and the same goes for any other device, including PCs, servers, laptops and monitors.
While mainstream search engines require a significant amount of power to keep them running, others are offsetting emissions. Ecosia is one of these alternatives, using its ad revenue from users’ searches to plant trees in biodiverse and ecologically sensitive areas. Since it was founded in 2009, the social business has planted over 126 million trees and every search you make could add to this number.
One obvious way to reduce your digital emissions is by turning your device off while not in use. You’d think this is common sense but apparently, around a quarter of British households leave devices on standby because they think it’s too much effort to turn them off. This means that 8% of household energy use comes from pure laziness.
Digital clutter means stress, but it also means higher emissions. This is because email servers require energy to send, receive and store messages, with the largest emails causing up to 50g in CO2 emissions. So save yourself some eco guilt by organising your emails and freeing up space in your inbox.
