[173] Digital footprints and carbon fingerprints – with Matt and Will from Carbon Fingerprint

A Sustainable Life with Jen Gale

This week we’re diving into all things digital with Matt and Will from an organisation called Carbon Fingerprint.
For many of us, the planetary impact of our online lives maybe isn’t something that we give much thought to – the cloud is this ethereal thing that none of us quite understand, and I personally can’t even begin to get my head around how the internet works, so have to assume it’s some kind of magic. And surely magic can’t be bad for the planet right?
Wrong. Sadly. Again.
‘The internet’ – all of our devices and computers; the infrastructure, so the cables, the data centres etc; and the combined energy usage of all of that already has a carbon footprint greater than that of the aviation industry (which for reference is around 2-5% of global emissions) and that is set to at least double in the next 10 years!
If pushed, most of us might think about the electricity that’s used when we charge our phones and laptops, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg – did you know it takes 800kg of resources to make a 2kg laptop. I learned that on a Digital Collage workshop a couple of weeks ago and it absolutely blew my mind!
And it’s not just the planetary impacts of our internet usage that we need to be aware of , there are other impacts on our mental health, our physical health, and our connectedness with people and nature. Many of us use our phones more than we actually want to, and are aware that we can spend hours of our days doom scrolling, ending up feeling worse. Social media is deliberately designed to be addictive and has done a very good job of keeping us hooked, and indeed polarising society.
That all sounds very doom and gloom, and as someone who runs an online business and uses the internet to hopefully try and spread some good around the world, I’m aware that there are also huge benefits to it, so as with everything, I guess it’s around making sure that we use it more thoughtfully and consciously, being mindful of it’s impact both on the planet and on our own well-being.
Matt, Will and two other friends have set up Carbon fingerprint with this exact dual purpose – they want to raise awareness of the impact of our internet usage, provide tips, ideas and resources for us all to help us to use it more mindfully, and provide a way for anyone who wants to, to meaningfully remove the carbon emissions produced by our internet usage from the atmosphere.
If you’re anything like me, this might be an area of your life you haven’t given much thought to before, but once you start digging, it’s fascinating and terrifying! We’ve been doing a ‘digital detox’ in The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse, with people committing to simple but impactful things like swapping the 10 mins (and it’s never just 10mins is it?!) doom scroll before bed for reading, or going for a walk without their phone!
I’d love to know your thoughts on this one, and on your own relationship to your phone – do you often find yourself doom scrolling? Are you concerned about how much time your or your kids spend online? Is this additional knowledge about the planetary impact of that time spent an added incentive to try and take back control?!
Let me know!

Matt Bird - Carbon fingerprint co-founder

Will Owen - Carbon fingerprint co-founder

GOOD NEWS!
In the new Good News section after the main interview, I share some of the good climate news happening (because there is some, I promise!). Here's this weeks pick:

• The world's biggest polluter neared peak emissions (Positive News)
• The circular economy is coming to Europe (Positive News)
• And much closer to home, I wanted to share this from Rachel who is signed up to the Crap-free Christmas course – she shared this in the course FB group:
  "First result! I started a WhatsApp conversation with my brothers on Monday about streamlining the presents this year (I have three brothers and we all have children). We have done secret Santa amongst the adults a few times and I was up for that again, but we have actually gone further and are now saying no presents for the adults this year! The exceptions are you are allowed to give someone something if you’ve seen something specific you really want to get them, or passing on a book you’ve read and enjoyed.
  I’ve also started some good conversations with people about which bits of Christmas we actually like and which we can do without. And I’ve done a lot of soul searching within myself, with the result I think I’m going to actually enjoy Christmas a lot more this year.
  All prompted by signing up to this group so thanks Jen!"
  

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LISTEN...

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USEFUL LINKS:

• Carbon Fingerprint
  - Website
  - Instagram
  - Screentime carbon fingerprint calculator
  - Carbon fingerprint calculator for creators
• Addvert
• B-corp
• The Digital Collage
• Climate Fresk
• Google reinforces undersea cables after shark bites
• How Bad are Bananas? The carbon footprint of everything
• The Social Dilemma
• Stolen Focus - Johann Hari
  
• Back Market
• Fairphone
• Verra off-setting scandal (The Guardian)
• One Tree Planted
• Climeworks
• Unplugged
• Climate shadow
• Carbon Literacy training
• The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
• Crap-free Christmas course
  

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What do you think?
Had you thought about your carbon fingerprint before?
What are you going to do after listening?
Delete duplicate photos? Turn down the brightness on your screen or switch to dark mode?
Are you going to swap your bedtime doom scroll for a nice book?! Could you manage a screen-free day?! Or simply just do something without your phone…!
And super importantly, how long could you keep your current phone in use for?!
Do let me know in the comments!

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