Sustainable Internet Usage – 14 Tips To Reduce Your Environmental Impact On The Internet

Do you already know how to surf the Internet as sustainably as possible? Admittedly, it's probably a question that very few of us ask ourselves. But it is also clear that every search query sent, every funny cat video, every addictive online game and every romantic movie on a streaming platform consumes energy.

IT companies can develop more efficient data centers, of course! But we consumers can also act sustainably in our everyday use of the internet.

In this article, I would like to give you some valuable tips to help you surf the internet more consciously and sustainably in the future. From search behavior and your email provider to the ideal screen size. Let's go!

TipDo you plan to live more sustainably? Then be sure to also check out my post with the best Tips for a sustainable everyday life an.

Reasons: Why is sustainability on the Internet necessary?

The Climate Change is certainly the biggest environmental problem of our time - and a problem that brings other problems with it. The Increasing energy consumption the growing world population, however, makes the fight against global warming more difficult.

To ensure that our society is as sustainable as possible on the Internet in the long term, both IT companies as well as us users together.

Here are Some factswhich make it necessary to learn more about more environmentally friendly web surfing:

• Google's server farms consume enormous resources. On average a single search query with 0.0003 kilowatts to book. Each Google user could power a 60-watt light bulb for three hours with their own search queries alone.¹
• Digital technology is now 3.7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions responsible. By comparison, civil aviation accounted for just 2 percent of emissions in 2018.²
• In 2015, servers consumed in Germany around 7 billion kilowatt hours of electricity for operation aloneplus a further 5 billion kilowatt hours for the necessary cooling. The resulting CO2 emissions amounted to around 6 million tons. This corresponds to around 0.7 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in Germany.³
• Experts expect that the Energy demand of servers by around 60 percent between 2015 and 2025 will increase.⁴

Tip: How would it be if you could also professionally ensure more sustainability on the Internet? At sustainable job portal you can find job postings in the IT area of environmentally conscious companies, for example. Or how about studying environmental informatics? You can find out more about this in the detailed article on sustainable courses.

14 tips for more sustainable surfing on the Internet

By now you know why a Sustainable use of the Internet is also important for the solution of many Environmental problems of our time is. That's why it's time to get down to business. I'll show you my best tips for sustainable surfing below.

1. use sustainable search engine

Search queries consume energy! It is therefore fundamentally sustainable and sensible to use as few as possible. But search engines are an integral and useful part of our everyday lives. The tech giant Google may be the biggest user of renewable energies but there are even more environmentally friendly search engines.

Quick tip: Switch to a sustainable search engine. With the search engine Ecosia.org for example, more than 217 million trees have already been planted as a result of users' search queries.

2. avoid browser and voice search

Both the browser search and the search with voice assistants such as Siri, Cortana or Alexa require a additional energy and computing effort.

However, the associated and relatively unnecessary energy consumption can be reduced by the direct visit to a website or save you having to enter the search terms yourself.

Quick tip: In future, go directly to www.careelite.de instead of typing "careelite de" or "careelite" in the search bar of your browser.

3. send download links rather than large files

For example, if you want to send your long bachelor's thesis to your friends for proofreading, then that's much more sustainableto do it with a download link than by e-mail.

Sending the file requires storage space in the e-mail program and, depending on the recipient, must still be uploaded and stored on the server of another e-mail provider.

Quick tip: Send a download link from your cloud instead of sending large files by email. This saves energy, storage and computing power as they only need to be uploaded once and downloaded once.

4. use green electricity at your home

Every day we use electronic devices to surf the Internet - but hardly anyone thinks about it, where the electricity for this actually comes from.

For truly sustainable surfing on the Internet, this should definitely come from renewable energies such as Wind, solar or hydropower come from. Fortunately, you have this under control yourself.

Quick tip: Switch to a green electricity provider here*which relies entirely (and not just with a single tariff) on electricity from sustainable energy sources.

5. delete unused accounts and subscriptions

Everyone has a few superfluous accounts with social networks or E-mail providers and perhaps also a Newsletter subscription with e-mails that are only deleted anyway.

Quick tip: Delete all inactive accounts that you no longer need. And unsubscribe from unnecessary newsletters. This saves energy and helps you with a clear inbox, still live more minimalist.

6. use web hoster & cloud provider with green power base

Do you have your own website or are you planning one? In any case, you need a web host. Make sure that they offer their servers on the basis of renewable energies is running.

The Serveron which CareElite.de is located, for example, are powered 100 percent by hydropower. With Cloud providers you can also pay attention to sustainability.

Quick tip: Sign up with an eco-conscious web host and cloud provider so you can surf the web more sustainably in the future.

By the way: If you want to start your own online project, you will get more information in the article about sustainable foundation many more tips.

7. reduce use of streaming services

Anyone who enjoys watching series, documentaries or films on Netflix and listening to music on online services such as Spotify is probably reluctant to hear this. around three quarters of the average data volume used on the internet can be attributed to the use of streaming services.⁵ Streaming is therefore not sustainable per se.

Quick tip: Use content from the internet offline more often. For example, by downloading your favorite songs that you listen to frequently. This saves streaming and makes your use of the internet even more sustainable. Classic DVDs are also more environmentally friendly.

Notice: Don't worry! This doesn't mean that you should never stream entertainment media again. But even a more conscious and reduced use of streaming services will make your online behavior much more sustainable.

8. turn off computer, laptop and smartphone

Electrical appliances consume electricity - even when they are only in standby mode are. And the average German now has more than one device at home.

From laptops and smartphones to power strips: It is more sustainable to use the devices to be switched off completely.

Quick tip: By switching off your computer and other devices, you save energy and can also sleep better.

9. switch off WLAN router at night

Is it really necessary to use electricity around the clock for your Internet connection? A legitimate question! After all, you rarely go online at night anyway and can also minimize radiation exposure.

Kuzr Tip: Simply switch off your router when you go to sleep and switch it on again when you get up. This will quickly become a habit.

10. reconsider new laptop purchase

Of course, it is particularly sustainable if you use your laptop that is no longer in working order. repair leaves. If absolutely nothing works anymore, then you should Dispose of properly and prefer a Prefer used purchaseto save natural resources.

Take a look, for example at reBuy* or amazon* to refurbished laptops and smartphones. Not only are they more environmentally friendly, they are also cheaper.

Quick tip: When buying a laptop, make sure that it is only as powerful as it needs to be for your personal purposes. If you're not a gamer or graphic designer, for example, you generally don't need an overly powerful graphics card.

11. prefer green email providers

Of course, there are also sustainable email services that allow you to send and receive emails in an environmentally friendly way. You can recognize them by the fact that they reduce the energy requirements of their Data centers with green electricity cope or offset the associated greenhouse gas emissions.

Quick tip: When choosing your e-mail provider, pay particular attention to the label for green electricity and compensation payments.

12. dispose of electrical appliances properly

Old electrical appliances belong not in the household waste and certainly not on the roadsideas can unfortunately be observed from time to time. If your old computer really is absolutely irreparable, there are more sustainable ways of disposing of it.

Tip: If repairing is no longer an option, dispose of electrical appliances at wholesalers that sell electrical appliances. Or directly at the recycling center. It may often be a little further to get there, but you can Dispose of electronic waste properly and definitively.

13. surfing with stationary internet connection

Data transmission via a mobile phone connection consumes significantly more energy than via a Stationary connection with LAN or WLAN. Unfortunately, surfing the Internet via a mobile phone connection is no longer much more expensive, but much more convenient.

Quick tip: If you have the option, use the Internet via a stationary connection and not via mobile communications. This will make your use of the Internet significantly more climate and environmentally friendly.

14. use screen with appropriate size

The screen on which you surf the Internet should not be as oversized as possible, but rather only as large as necessary be. For example, 24-27 inches is recommended for good readability and an overview at the workplace. (I currently have this from hp*)

Because screens also consume particularly high power - and that unnecessarily hits your wallet. This aspect is a further sign that you have to deal with Sustainability Save money can.

Quick tip: The next time you buy a new screen, make sure that it is only as big as absolutely necessary. Of course, this also applies to the Smart TV.

Notice: Even powerful graphics cards are usually incredibly energy-intensive. Consider whether an ordinary graphics card might be sufficient for your purposes.

Sustainable on the Internet? It's possible!

Anyone who uses the internet can never do so 100% sustainably, as energy is always consumed. But it is much more important that you do it more sustainably can. And you have learned the most important tips for this here today.

I hope that they will help you in the future even more environmentally friendly and energy-saving surfing. As is so often the case, it's just a few habits that we need to break away from.

"What we do today will determine what the world looks like tomorrow."

 Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (more at Environmental protection quotes)

Do you have any questions, further tips or your own experiences with sustainable surfing in the online world that you would like to share? Then please write a comment below this article.

Stay sustainable,

PS: Feel free to look around a bit more in the Blog about sustainable living around. There you can find out more about the Building sustainable websites inform

References:

1. S. Ostendorf: Insatiable hunger for electricity: Why data traffic on the internet devours so much energy (as at: 01.11.2018), available at https://www.stern.de/digital/online/google-wieviel-energie-verschlingt-eine-suchanfrage-8397770.html. [16.10.2024]. ↩︎
2. M. Holland; Heise Medien GmbH & Co. KG: Climate change: Online porn produces as much CO2 as Romania (as at: 12.07.2019), available at https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Klimawandel-Online-Pornos-produzieren-so-viel-CO2-wie-Rumaenien-4469108.html. [16.10.2024]. ↩︎
3. Federal Environment Agency (2019): Surfing, Internet providers (as at: 21.02.2019), available at https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/umwelttipps-fuer-den-alltag/elektrogeraete/surfen-internetanbieter. [16.10.2024]. ↩︎
4. Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (2015): Development of the ICT–bedingten Strombedarfs in Deutschland - Abschlussbericht, p.41. Available at https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/E/entwicklung-des-ikt-bedingten-strombedarfs-in-deutschland-abschlussbericht.html. [16.10.2024]. ↩︎
5. Federal Environment Agency (2019): Surfing, Internet providers (as at: 21.02.2019), available at https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/umwelttipps-fuer-den-alltag/elektrogeraete/surfen-internetanbieter. [16.10.2024]. ↩︎