10 selfies = 1 tree This is what a recent 'promoted post' that came out on my feed this week stated I admit, this prompted a little 'mea culpa' as I went scrolling on my feed to calculate how many trees I should go out to plant (answer: quite a few...). Now. This also prompted some research into the effect of our social usage, and sharing (over sharing?) on emissions and climate.. We are becoming increasingly more and more reliant on socials In the last year, this trend exploded, and we became OVER reliant on social media to keep up with friends far and near, and maybe even made some new friends and pen pals on it as we joined groups with similar interests. I already spoke of the dangers of media for society, creating eco-chambers and polarising society, and how social medias can be filled with negativity but also be areas of community creation . It is obvious that they are playing a huge role in our lives... Raise your hand if you check at least one of them everytime you pick up your phone? No worries, it's not your fault - they are made to do this to you and call you to them And I get it. They make us feel less lonely, and always connected. But, while we don't really think about it, the internet has its share of emissions associated with its usage. And, while it has been ingrained in some of us that sending an email has a lower impact on the planet than sending a piece of paper, I am not sure it is exactly that true (this particular case would depend on many variables, like where you are sending the letter to, what paper would you be using, how many pages etc..). If we go back to the 10 selfies: there are circa 50 g of CO2 emissions associated with them (and from the same calculations, in this paper, a tree would absorb 60 in a day and travelling 1 Km by car would emit 120...) . If all pictures uploaded are taken into considerations (and the data are from a few years ago, so chances is that with higher quality the data would be higher, although processes have also likely become smoother and faster...) then for a year usage there are respectively 88, 405 and 1139 tonnes of CO2 emitted by Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp! Just to put it into perspective, estimates for CO2 absorption by natural ecosystems vary from 1-20 tonnes per hectare annually. So you would need already quite a large area to offset all of those pictures. And these are only pictures.. If we move on and think of all of the zoom that we are using these days: just one hour of videoconferencing emits up to 1 kilogram of carbon dioxide. Sum it up for all the hours... and all of those 'online conferences' may not be more sustainable than travelling and meeting in person (so please, when we are finally free of this little annoying spiky microbe, can we go back to the in person meetings?) . If you need a good excuse to turn off your camera (and do your nails / go for a nap / write a to list / cook dinner) on the next meeting - this may be it: 1 hour of meeting without video can save up to 1 kg CO2. Excuse served.. While it may not seem like a lot, there are estimates that 4% of all global emissions come from our internet usage. And yes, it's ""only"" 4% but still something to ponder about. I don't know if I will necessarily drastically change my usage, I still have a need for connection, but I will at least think about it and moderate it accordingly. Would you join me in this? Would you think next time you post something 'is it worth it?'. I am a firm believer of mindfulness, and I will start applying it in this context too.
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