Environment & digital pollution

Wrongly perceived as a green communication tool, digital actually hides an energy-consuming and polluting system.

Daily and completely innocently, we sail on Web sites, send emails, text messages, upload photos, videos, use applications, play games online. We use the Internet everywhere we go, at work, at home or on the go. These actions, however innocent they may seem, have a real impact on our environment and generate digital pollution.

“An email is not a 4×4, it does not emit CO2! »

Granted, it's not a big truck, but sending a 1MB email is equivalent to 25Wh of power consumption (about 1 hour of using a 25W bulb) and we know that nearly 10 billion emails are sent per hour, worldwide. We let you do the math...

According to Laurent Lefevre, researcher at the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA), "digital pollution consumes 10% of the world's electricity".

Digital pollution: what hides behind our smartphone

Data centers, like vast "computer farms", are essential to the proper functioning of our precious Internet. However, these machines are extremely energy-intensive and reveal consumption equivalent to that of 30 people.

Their ecological impact now represents 4% of global electricity consumption. Innocent transfers of photos and videos by social networks end up stored in these data centers.

But it is not only the use of our equipment that potentially pollutes our air, but all the stages of its life cycle. The end of life of our equipment is a crucial step. Do not panic, however, many companies are working hard on a daily basis to reduce the ecological impact of their creation, in particular by using recyclable and/or recycled materials.

Tips to reduce your digital carbon footprint

If you want to reduce your footprint, you can. We are going to give you some advice to limit your passive consumption.

Empty your mailbox

No need to keep all the emails you receive. These keep servers all over the world running at full speed for nothing.

Unsubscribe from newsletters useless

This will avoid the sending of annoying and polluting emails.

Bookmark your favorite sites

This will avoid yet another search.

Choose a responsible search engine

The latter can offset the carbon emissions it generates. You have for example Ecosia, which plants a tree every 7 seconds!

Compress your attachments and limit the number of recipients

The lighter it is, the less it pollutes!

Recycle and recondition your equipment

You will make two people happy, a future buyer and the planet!

Just because it seems improbable doesn't mean it's impossible.

Let's take responsibility on our own scale, the planet will only be better off!