Greener Virtual Meetings: A Simple Way to Help the Planet
Looking for ways to support the environment while working remotely? One easy step toward greener virtual meetings is turning off your camera. Researchers say this small change can significantly reduce your carbon footprint. A new study found that while carbon emissions dropped in 2020, the increase in virtual communication and streaming continues to strain the environment.
Since the pandemic, millions have embraced remote work and digital entertainment. This spike in online activity contributes to emissions due to the energy required to store and transfer internet data globally. Just one hour of video conferencing or streaming can produce 150–1,000 grams of carbon dioxide, use 2–12 liters of water, and consume land equal to the size of an iPad Mini.
Fortunately, research from Purdue, Yale, and MIT reveals how to host greener virtual meetings. Turning off your camera during calls can reduce your carbon impact by up to 96%. Likewise, watching videos in standard instead of high definition can cut emissions by around 86%. Small adjustments to how we meet and stream online can lead to greener virtual meetings and a healthier planet.
This groundbreaking study on the carbon, water, and land footprints of internet usage reveals a hidden environmental cost of our digital lives—especially as we shift toward greener virtual meetings. Published in Resources, Conservation & Recycling, the research emphasizes the need to consider more than just carbon emissions when assessing environmental impact.
“If you just focus on one type of footprint, you miss out on others that can provide a more holistic look at environmental impact,” explained Roshanak “Roshi” Nateghi, a Purdue professor of industrial engineering. Her work highlights how increased reliance on technology, including video conferencing, can undermine efforts toward greener virtual meetings unless we take steps to reduce the strain on energy and resources.
The study makes it clear: greener virtual meetings aren’t just about less travel—they require conscious digital choices. Turning off cameras, streaming in standard definition, and understanding the data demands of virtual platforms are simple yet powerful ways to shrink our tech-driven footprint.
How continued increases in virtual meetings and internet use would impact the environment
Since March of last year, many countries have reported around a 20% uptick in internet use. Researchers say that if this trend continues through 2021, the additional internet traffic will require 71,600 square miles of land. This equates to a land area twice the size of Indiana required to capture the additional carbon emissions.
Also, the storage and transmission of data would require water equal to 300,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. As far as the consequent land footprint, it would measure about the size of Los Angeles.
The team then estimated the environmental impact associated with each gigabyte of data used in the following apps:
- YouTube
- Zoom
- TikTok
- 12 other platforms
- online gaming
- miscellaneous web surfing
Not surprisingly, the team found that increased video usage within an app led to a larger footprint. Since data processing requires an abundance of electricity, and producing electricity requires carbon, water, and land, decreasing downloads also reduces environmental impact.
“Banking systems tell you the positive environmental impact of going paperless, but no one tells you the benefit of turning off your camera or reducing your streaming quality. So without your consent, these platforms are increasing your environmental footprint,” said Kaveh Madani, who led and directed this study as a visiting fellow at the Yale MacMillan Center.
Carbon footprints associated with internet use had already been increasing before pandemic lockdowns, equating to about 3.7% of global carbon emissions. However, the water and land footprints of technology use have been forgotten in research about how internet use affects the environment.
Madani joined Nateghi’s research group to study how these footprints impact the environment. Interestingly, they found that water and land footprints vary depending on the web application and country.
The environmental impacts of virtual meetings and other internet applications by country
The team gathered data for Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, the U.K., and the U.S. The team found that internet usage in the U.S. had a 9% higher carbon footprint than the world average. However, the water and land footprints were 45% and 58% lower.
In other countries, the team discovered surprising data about the water and land footprints associated with internet use. Germany, for example, a pioneering country in sustainable energy, had a much lower-than-average carbon footprint. However, its water and land footprints greatly surpassed the world median. Researchers estimated the country had a land footprint 204% above average.
Purdue graduate students Renee Obringer, Benjamin Rachunok, and Debora Maia-Silva, performed the calculations and data analysis. Maryam Arbabzadeh, a postdoctoral research associate at MIT, also collaborated on the research. Their estimates came from publicly available data for each internet platform and country. They also utilized models created by Madani’s research group and known values of energy consumption per gigabyte of fixed-line internet use.
The researchers say that since the calculations reflect only the known data from service providers and third parties, they contain a margin of error. However, the research team believes that these estimates shed light on the previously overlooked impacts of internet use on the environment. They hope that the study will help the public better understand how to reduce their technology footprint.
“These are the best estimates given the available data. In view of these reported surges, there is a hope now for higher transparency to guide policy,” Nateghi said.
Funding for the study came from the Purdue Climate Change Research Center, the Purdue Center for the Environment, the MIT Energy Initiative, and the Yale MacMillan Center.
Final thoughts: virtual meetings and other internet usages greatly impact the environment
Many people don’t think about how working from home, or surfing Netflix affects the environment. We may think that it actually benefits the planet because we don’t have to drive to work. However, technology use still creates land, water, and carbon footprints because of how the data gets processed.
Even though we can’t escape technology in today’s modern world, we can still do our part to protect the planet. The researchers found that turning off your camera during virtual meetings can lessen the environmental impact. Also, choosing to stream content in standard instead of high definition provides a greener option. If we all heed the advice from the study, we can make a huge difference without even leaving our homes.
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