Green IT: the importance of educating consumers on their environmental footprint
05/17/2024
The use of internet-based communication networks and data centers – including online meeting platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and numerous streaming services for music and video (Netflix, Spotify, etc.) – has rocketed in recent years. The environmental footprint of using these technologies, however, is often overlooked by users despite their considerable and increasing environmental footprint.
A recent study by two professors from IÉSEG has explored the use of an online meeting tool to gain insights into the factors influencing more environmentally friendly use of such systems. Green IT behavior may typically involve, for example, switching off a webcam during a meeting, downloading music to listen offline (rather than repeatedly streaming) or simply erasing old emails or photos from cloud-based systems. Previous studies have highlighted the environmental impact of going ‘off camera’, during a video conference, with one suggesting this could reduce the carbon footprint by up to 96%.