Zoom isn鈥檛 carbon-free. The climate costs of staying home.
The pandemic has changed the way we live, work, learn, and socialize. For many, it鈥檚 forced daily activities online, and when people do log off and go outside, some have seen a world healing 鈥� smog clearing over cities, stars looking brighter, and wildlife returning to old habitats.
These observations reinforced a common belief that a digital world is an eco-friendly world. Experts say the reality is far more complicated.聽
How does working from home affect the environment?
Why We Wrote This
When work, play, and school go virtual, we might assume that at least our lives have become greener. There鈥檚 some truth to that, but the pandemic is raising the question: What鈥檚 the carbon footprint of a stay-home lifestyle?
Every time you send a message on Slack or search something on Google, you鈥檙e relying on data centers. These information factories are packed with servers, routers, and other equipment that makes the internet possible. Estimates vary, but in general, data centers are thought to use anywhere from 2% to 5% of the world鈥檚 electricity, and produce as much carbon dioxide as the aviation industry.聽
On a user level, researchers found that an hour of high-definition video streaming 鈥� be it the latest episode of 鈥淏ridgerton鈥� or a Monday morning meeting 鈥� can create up to a pound of CO2 emissions, similar to driving a mile in an average car. That鈥檚 a high-end estimate, drawing on data gathered by the International Energy Agency. While the carbon output will often be much lower, based on factors like electric power sources and the聽graphics quality of a video stream, the key point is that digital lifestyles come with a carbon footprint.聽
In fact, there are many hidden environmental costs beyond greenhouse gases. Personal devices regularly break or become outdated, generating electronic waste, and those massive data centers also need land and water to operate.聽
The journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling recently published a looking at the internet鈥檚 land and water footprints in addition to its greenhouse gas聽emissions. Researchers from Purdue University, Yale University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that data centers used roughly 687 million gallons of water every year, and had an estimated land footprint of 1,300 square miles, nearly three times the size of Los Angeles.聽On emissions alone, the group found data centers push out 97 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year.
鈥淥ur energy systems in general are becoming less carbon intensive,鈥� says Renee Obringer, a research fellow at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center and lead author of the study. But especially as more countries , she says it鈥檚 important to monitor those other environmental impacts.
Wait, so is it better to work from the office?
Not necessarily. Right now, videoconferencing is a necessity, and in many cases, there can be a net environmental gain to going digital, but experts want to push back on the assumption that online services are inherently green.
鈥淲e were originally sold this idea by corporations that having paperless offices would be an environmental benefit,鈥� says Jess McLean, a senior lecturer in geography at Australia鈥檚 Macquarie University, who studies how digital technologies have become entrenched in modern life. 鈥淭hinking critically about whether digital tech is actually environmentally sustainable is not that convenient now.鈥澛�
鈥淚t鈥檚 also the case that we don鈥檛 see a lot of the infrastructure that supports use of digital technology,鈥� she adds, citing satellites in space, cables running underground, and servers stored in basements and windowless warehouses all around the world. 鈥淭hey are often not even understood as a part of our digital ecosystem.鈥�
Digital companies can market themselves as 鈥済reen alternatives鈥� without reporting how much data, electricity, water, or land their products use. That kind of information would make it easier for scientists like Dr. Obringer to track the internet鈥檚 environmental footprint over time, and for consumers to educate themselves about their technology choices.
How can I make my online life greener?聽
There are several ways users can minimize their environmental footprint, and possibly save time and money as well. These include limiting social media and gaming time, deleting unnecessary emails and other files stored on the cloud, and downgrading streaming subscriptions.
鈥淩educing video quality can have a really big impact,鈥� says Dr. Obringer. 鈥淥ur study showed that by going from your 4k, Ultra HD Netflix plan and dropping that down to a standard definition, your personal footprint would be reduced by about 86%.鈥澛�
This is true for Zoom, too. Based on researchers鈥� estimates, users can reduce their carbon footprint by 96% by turning off their camera during work meetings. For someone with daily meetings, using the voice-only option would also save 532 liters of water 鈥� roughly three bathtubs 鈥� and 1.7 square feet of land every month.聽
Pandemic or not, digital lifestyles have become ubiquitous. But a goal can be to rely increasingly on renewable sources of energy, while seeking to minimize other environmental impacts.
Both Dr. Obringer and Dr. McLean agree that companies and lawmakers have a significant role to play, starting with ensuring greater transparency about internet companies鈥� data usage.聽
鈥淚ndividuals shouldn鈥檛 necessarily be held to account for the vast environmental costs of digital technologies,鈥� says Dr. McLean. 鈥淚n fact, we need to have the structures in place that make sure it鈥檚 easy to make those environmentally sound decisions.鈥�
