The carbon footprint of doomscrolling and mindless texts

Billions of people are constantly scrolling through TikTok and messaging each other to stay connected. But while the mental impacts of our digital addiction are well documented, our everyday internet use is severely impacting the environment, too.

The tech industry already accounts for seven percent of global emissions, and its share is predicted to rise with the growth of data centers – unless big tech companies do indeed start a nuclear renaissance.

The AI boom is especially worrying – ChatGPT alone consumes enough energy in one year to fully charge over three million electric vehicles. The (near) future is extremely power-hungry.

But what we as humanity do today is equally concerning. Common online activities such as using social media, texting, and emailing add up to a significant carbon footprint.

And it’s possible to calculate the average CO2 emissions from each and every one of us. That’s what CloudZero, a cloud cost intelligence platform, recently did.

Video-based platforms are the biggest culprits

Once again, these emissions are produced from the numerous data centers needed to operate platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.

Of course, there’s also the issue of personal device energy consumption. However, data centers consume incomparable amounts of electricity and often rely on non-renewable energy sources as well.

The average person spends around three hours per day using social media, and in 2022, around 5.3 billion people worldwide had access to the internet. How much is this constant activity costing the planet?

Due to the large data sizes of videos, video streaming accounts for the lion’s share of the digital footprint. That’s why it’s unsurprising that, according to CloudZero, TikTok – where video is king – tops the list when it comes to CO2 emissions.

Not only is TikTok the most popular platform, with users spending an average of 95 minutes per day, but it also generates the highest carbon footprint. Just one minute of scrolling on TikTok emits 2.63 grams of CO2, which adds up to a significant 250 grams by the end of the day.

Instagram, another platform where videos are prevalent, ranks as the second biggest culprit. Users spend an average of 33 minutes per day on the platform, and 1.5 grams of CO2 are emitted per minute, which amounts to 50 grams of CO2 per day.

Facebook follows closely. It is also used for about 33 minutes daily but has a lower carbon footprint of 0.79 grams per minute, totaling 26 grams of CO2 each day. YouTube rounds out the list, with users averaging 19 minutes per day, leading to nine grams of CO2 emissions daily.

Combining all these social media platforms, one person contributes around 968 grams of CO2 every single day just by scrolling – about the same as driving a car 2.4 miles. That might not seem a lot, but again, billions of people use social media every day.

“Collectively, our yearly carbon footprint could be compared to the emissions from millions of long-haul flights. So, the environmental impact of scrolling is much bigger than we might think,” says CloudZero.

Besides, even mindless texts and emails can have a surprisingly large environmental impact. According to CloudZero, the total amount of CO2 emissions used by one person for text messages is 310 grams in just one year, which is the same as charging your phone 32 times or running your laptop for 10 hours.

What can we do to make amends?

However, Bill Buckley, senior vice president of engineering at CloudZero, says consumers and businesses can work to reduce their tech carbon footprint.

You can, for example, optimize cloud usage or reduce everyday energy consumption – simply turning off equipment when not in use can have a significant impact over time. Even regularly deleting unnecessary files and programs also lowers emissions.

We could collectively save a lot of carbon emissions by simply stopping unnecessary niceties such as separate “thank you” notes.

With regard to social media specifically, consumers could try to reduce streaming, which accounts for 75% of global data traffic. A Switzerland-based nonprofit climate protection organization, myclimate, says downloading is much less energy-intensive.

You can also play songs as audio files rather than streaming them as a video on YouTube or watch the video at a lower resolution.

We should additionally use devices for longer and avoid upgrading every two years. Eventually, of course, we will need a new device but we should dispose of the old one correctly.

Finally, getting back to emails and messages, we could collectively save a lot of carbon emissions by simply stopping unnecessary niceties such as separate “thank you” notes. Email attachments could be swapped for links to documents, too.

To be fair, reading and finding news online is still more friendly than, for example, buying a single paperback whose carbon footprint is around 1 kg CO2e. But don’t feel too guilty – it takes 2,300 paperbacks to leave the same carbon footprint as a flight from London to Hong Kong.