Like one does when certain events happen in life, I decided to take a social media break a little bit ago. I deleted all the apps from my phone and set the intention to be more aware of how much time I was spending online. And the actual withdrawals I faced were a huge indicator that I had, in fact, been spending way too much time on my phone. This got me thinking: what is the average amount someone spends online? How does all this time translate into energy, and where does that energy come from? When was the last time, or first time, I actually took a moment to think about what impacts my digital consumption contributed to?
So, I did a little digging.
In 2024, the average internet user worldwide spent around six and a half hours online every day, with around a third of that total time being reserved for social media alone. And currently, internet access has reached more than 5 billion people (around 60% of the global population). Imagine 5 billion people spending an average of half their waking day online. That’s a lot of data circulating around the world at any given moment. In a space that feels disconnected from the physical world, a pixelated realm of endless search results and connections, it’s easy to forget that all this digital activity has a very real and very large footprint on our planet.
As the internet grows, more data centres, phones, computers, and tech will need to be built to meet the demand. And that has left its mark on the planet through raw material depletion, energy and water use, pollution and waste. A typical data centre can use between 11 million to 19 million litres of water per day, equivalent to what a city of 30 to 50 thousand people uses, and account for 1% to 1.5% of global electricity consumption. By the end of this year, it’s estimated that communication tech will emit more carbon emissions than any country except China, India and the United States. Meanwhile, renewable energy generation will still lag behind at around 34.5% globally.
It’s easy for so much of the physical effects of the digital world to be out of sight, and out of mind, when it’s not talked about or purposely hidden. And a lot of this is so new that we simply haven’t caught up with proper documentation on its impact.
Most people are not aware of the resource usage underlying ChatGPT. If you’re not aware of the resource usage, then there’s no way that we can help conserve the resources.
The irony is that we are viewing the very real effects of climate change through the means that have directly contributed to its impact. Media spreads faster than the wildfires and floods wiping out almost whole cities every year, and you will continue to watch the series of disasters get closer and closer until you’re the one filming it. The faster the race to the top for tech developers, the more we are turning to convenience and ignoring the very real costs of it all.
And with climate change no longer just “nipping” at our heels but actually taking chunks of flesh from our Achilles, we don’t even have agreement on the fact that anything or everything is, in fact, changing faster than we can understand.
But as much as the digital explosion has brought a lot of bad, it’s also brought a lot of good, and we have the tools to make things better. Web sustainability is an approach that puts people and planet first. If we are intentional in our use of technology, it can bring huge benefits for both us and the environment. Delivering products, services and information that are clean, efficient, open, honest, regenerative and resilient. (See the Sustainable Web Manifesto) Technology has revolutionized how we connect, engage, share, and develop globally. I’m not saying in any way that we need to eliminate it; we just need to properly manage our use and build regenerative systems for the resources. Like using AI to support life cycle assessments, enhance environmental monitoring, and optimizing supply chains to minimize the environmental impact instead of generating six different variations of a cat dancing in cowboy boots.
And we can also use a pause to slow down, we don’t need to be moving at breakneck paces in everything we do. Good things take time. And if we take intentional time to build things right from the start, we’ll be setting ourselves up for a more sustainable future.
We all carry the influence to provoke change, so what can you do to help steer the direction of the digital expansion to a positive place for people and planet?
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Consider purchasing ENERGY STAR-certified devices or those with energy-efficient components and power down devices when not in use.
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Repair and take care of the devices you already have and recycle when they are no longer usable.
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Be mindful with your digital consumption; create space in your life to step away from the screens.
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Limit your use of online AI to only the necessary amounts where it creates efficiency; you’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.
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Support companies that put sustainability at the forefront of their decision-making.
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Use web-sustainable tools and products.