Technology is something we use every day, but we tend to underestimate our impact from our daily use of technology. Everytime we search up a site or send a text, we are creating an impact. To put this into perspective, digital technologies are responsible for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, and this energy consumption is increasing 9% every year. Not only are we generating a ton of emissions now, but the global IT sector’s impact is predicted to surpass top polluting countries. 

While these behaviors can never be changed, there are ways that we as consumers can be more mindful of the ways we use technology.

One small change you can adopt is making sure you don’t leave devices charging longer than they have to be. This will not only degrade your battery, but it also uses excess energy. Instead, try charging your phone in the morning and throughout the day in small increments. 

Additionally, try utilizing bookmarks so you are using your search engine less. Everytime you are searching for a website, you are using more energy than if you were to click a saved bookmark. 

Furthermore, choose a cloud provider who uses renewable energy. Many cloud providers have made statements to power their data centers with renewable energy. Try using these providers for your cloud data to support this shift.

Download music onto your phone instead of streaming it. Streaming emits more than just downloading music once, and so you reduce your impact just by downloading your music beforehand. 

Try unsubscribing from newsletters that do not interest you and deleting emails you do not need. By decluttering the amount of emails you are storing and receiving, you are reducing emissions by 10g of CO2 per email sent, and 10g of CO2 annually per email stored. 

Finally, try using ecological search engines such as Ecosia, OceanHero, and Goodsearch. Each Google search produces 0.2 grams of CO2, and that is only a small estimate. But by switching to eco-friendly search engines, you are using their search engines which have promised to protect the earth in some way through their revenue. Unlike Google, these search engines have made a pledge to contribute their revenue to climate protection, and this is a perfect way to give back without modifying any of your daily practices. 

By implementing these small changes, you can make a huge difference in your personal emissions. Understanding the effect that device usage has on emissions is the first step in making more informed decisions. 

We come in to not only bring awareness to the issue, but to solve this problem at its core. Here at Dedalo AI, we prioritize energy reduction in the technological sector. Our goal is to bring attention to this issue and face it head on through partnering with companies and helping them reduce their technological inefficiency. This will not only benefit the company, but it will also help lower emissions from consumer daily use. 

If you want to learn more about the carbon footprint of company websites and how to integrate this data in ESG reports, make sure you visit dedalo.ai.