Clicking, liking, sharing, scrolling – the Internet has given us the world in the palm of our hands and practically “infected” us with these online activities that most of us cannot imagine a day without.
However, no matter how benign our online time seems, its background hides a real ecological threat exacerbating the climate crisis by the minute.
Each of our clicks travels through a complex Internet infrastructure that consumes a staggering amount of electricity, and since electricity is primarily derived from fossil fuels, the longer we surf the Internet, the larger our digital carbon footprint.
Data centers are the biggest electricity consumers, as they store and process a vast amount of data. These centers have numerous servers and supporting equipment that consumes electricity at the speed of light, and their carbon footprint has never been higher.
In addition to requiring a continuous supply of electricity derived from fossil fuels, data centers heat up quickly, so they also need constant cooling.
This means that additional energy is used to power cooling devices, while some data centers use water for cooling. One study found that many data centers in the US are located in drought-prone areas, but that doesn’t stop them from drawing huge amounts of precious water.
Although the story of the unsustainability of data centers continues, we have to ask ourselves what we can do to reduce our digital carbon footprint.
Some data centers have turned to green technologies and circular economy, so they use energy from renewable sources, hand over waste heat to heating plants for heating local communities and implement a number of other innovative solutions that improve their sustainability.
While these are great examples of how data centers can become greener while maintaining maximum operational efficiency, they are not enough to reduce the digital carbon footprint so that it is no longer a threat to the environment.
Each of us should do our part to reduce our digital footprint, and spending less time online is one of the easiest ways to achieve this.
Unfortunately, many of us find it challenging to carry out this digital detox as our jobs, education, and socializing have largely moved into the digital world.
This is why it is necessary to implement sustainable practices into our daily use of the Internet, like deleting old emails as one way to reduce the storage of unnecessary data in data centers and thus our digital carbon footprint (something I will do as soon as I finish writing this blog).
Smart use of digital devices is another way to reduce electricity consumption, as well as recycling old devices or buying ones that are more energy efficient.
However, I don’t think we should feel guilty for deciding to unwind after a busy day with a good old social media scroll. We should be aware of the problem of digital carbon footprint, not to give up all the pleasures that the Internet provides but so that we can make smart decisions every day.
Milena Maglovski
