Hello guys,
Today I want to talk to you about a problem that is quite unknown (and still so important!): the digital pollution. I discover this issue not a long time ago, and it is also called "numerical revolution". One day I have read an article about the fact that you should erase all the emails that you don't need any more in your inbox, because it produces a lot of pollution (and don't lie, it is so annoying to have an inbox full of useless emails when you have to find THE mail).
When I interested myself more in the subject, I actually discover a whole environmental issue! I will try to explain it to you and to propose you some solutions to reduce your environmental impact.
What is the "digital pollution"?
The digital pollution includes all the environmental sources of pollution produces by digital tools. It is divided into two parts: the first is linked to the manufacturing of any digital tool, and the second to the functioning of the Internet. In 2016, this pollution represents approximately 2 % of greenhouse gas emissions (which is as much as the civil aviation!). Seven grams of CO2 are rejected for each of your Google research. If the numerical world was a state, it would be the sixth bigger polluter on Earth.
The sources of this pollution can be from very various things: by watching a Youtube video, by watching a movie, by making a Google research,... simply while surfing the web. All the softwares that you use need energy to work. But when you go further, another great source of pollution maybe less obvious is the pollution made by the data centers. They are enormous storage and data processing centers, that use energy for the computer servers and especially for the cooling of those servers (approximatively 40% of the energy used by these installations). It uses mostly fossil energy.
The storage and sending of emails contribute also to the digital pollution. The emails processing has to pass through several data centers and uses in total 10 grams of CO2 (it's the same amount of CO2 a tree absorbs in one day), and their storage implies the use of informatic servers, which use also energy.
The part linked to the manufacturing of the digital devices is also very important: for example, to build a computer, you need 16 times of the materials that are finally on the computer. It requires a lot of resources, that are not always renewable. It is in that way a great part of the digital pollution. Moreover, a lot of components of these devices are not recyclable.
The solutions for digital pollution
The problem with this type of pollution is that you cannot see it. Nobody has the impression of polluting when spending time on their computer! But then you find that one hour spent on your computer represents the equivalent of 4,000 tons of oil! But you can find some easy ways to try to reduce your environmental impact.
The first solution I find is "Cleanfox". This is an app that offers to erase and clean your inbox. I don't know how it works exactly but I think it worths give it a try! We have all way too many emails in our inboxes. The storage of emails is a huge issue, especially when you know that more than 500 billions of emails are sent per day in the world! The suppression of 30 emails uses the energy used by a bulb lit during 24 hours, but at least, when they are erased, they don't consume energy anymore!
There are also some simple hacks to reduce a little your impact: first, when you have to go on a page, write directly the URL of the page that you want to see, without making a Google research before. Second, the best is to have only one tab open at the time. Third, you can also change your search engine: some engines are more aware of the ecological issues, like "lilo.org", that gives a part of their advertising revenue to some sustainable projects, or "Ecosia", which is well-known.
Some countries have also taken some provisions to reduce the environmental impact of data centers: in Paris, a local swimming pool is warmed by the energy produced by data centers. This energy could also warm houses and offices.
If you have others ideas to reduce our ecological and numerical footprint, do not hesitate to share them in the comments section! I find it is totally necessary that everyone makes something in their one level. In 2019, if this goes on like today, the digital pollution will be more important than the air traffic!