Using less energy and emit less carbon dioxide, that’s what it is all about in sustainable development. But did you ever consider your energy consumption while using the computer and browsing the internet? Website servers use energy as well and is reading from your computer really more sustainable than printing it? Computers and internet are used all over the world and contribute significantly to the global CO2 emissions. The Guardian (2009) stated that the ICT sector is estimated to be responsible for two percent of the CO2 emissions in Europe!
The same article declares that if the, in that time new, datacentre of Google would open in 2011, it would use the same amount of energy as the English city of Newcastle. Does Newcastle use this little energy? I think the opposite. It was new for me to think about the internet from an energy perspective. Coming back to Google, nowadays they started to reduce their energy consumption and campaign this. On a page called “beyond zero footprint”, Google shows their effort to emit less carbon dioxide and use less energy. I have to admit, if everything is true what they claim, they are significantly minimizing their impact on the environment. They made their datacentres more efficient, are compensating for their CO2 emissions, invest in sustainable energy projects and use green energy. Furthermore they claim that their products make people use less CO2. The last is not necessarily true.
Mainly I want to focus on the replacement of paper by digital devices (which I think is the aim of most of Googles products). When you think of paper, you will think of trees being cut down to make it, which sounds very unsustainable. The Guardian (2009) explains that proper managed forests are vital to several economies of countries around the world. Also, how many times does someone want to explain you something with some handy app (especially people from an earlier generations than mine). Most of the times this turns out to be more inefficient than just taking a pencil and drawing it.
Furthermore, I notice that reading on a computer uses more energy from my body; I can read longer from paper than from a computer screen. This means that I am less efficient, which leads to less performance of my deeds. With all my sustainable intentions I think that I am worth more reading from paper than from the computer!
The Guardian. (2009). Paper versus the web – Is there a clear winner? Retrieved 14 December, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/sustainability/paper-versus-web
http://www.google.com/green/bigpicture/#beyondzero-footprint