One day my child will declare that I’m ancient because I was born in the pre-internet age. Not using the internet is inconceivable to large swaths of the world who’ve adopted it and made it a part of their everyday lives.
Today as we celebrate Earth day, let’s consider the environmental impact of internet usage. Sitting in front of a screen at home seems low impact versus getting on a gas guzzling jumbo jet, but the energy and carbon footprint of internet usage have already exceeded air travel! According to Kualo, annual carbon production from the internet = an average Boeing 747 passenger jet flying to the moon and back 5674 times!
There are ways we can help. I admit to being too impatient to wait for my computer to boot, so I leave it on. This is despite remembering dialup modems, when accessing the internet actually required dialing a number and waiting for the connection.
But computers can be shut down or put to sleep faster. Unplug, use smaller devices, get rid of spam, (check out our post on where spam comes from) , or choose green hosting services -all of these make a difference.
I can’t live without the internet now. It’s too valuable for connecting friends and family, with the added perk of making me sound smarter. But I could probably pay more attention to my usage habits.