Internet - a blessing or a curse to the environment?
- Anna Grzebita
- Mar 26, 2023
- 6 min read
There is a variety of ways that the Internet could increase people’s awareness and change business practices. There are some threats such as e-waste production, increasing data consumption, or social media that still foster consumerism. The Internet has inevitably become a crucial part of everyday life. It is being used for a variety of purposes from spending our leisure time to working. However, I believe that the opportunities are a little bit greater. If we will change priorities and care more about the environment the Internet gives great opportunities to save energy and resources. I would like to discuss whether the Internet is good or harmful to the environment.
Negative aspects of the Internet

Online videos carbon footprint
Even though most digital activities happen in non-physical, online spaces, Internet still has a significant impact on the planet. It can function due to its physical infrastructures and data centers which consume natural resources to function. Even such a simple action as typing and searching a query on Google results in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The Shift Project states in its report that in 2019 digital technologies were responsible for 4% of GHG. It is due to the production of computers, TVs smartphones, and other devices. The use of terminals, data centers, and networks is responsible for more than half of those emissions in 2017. The increasing popularity of video will also result in an increase in GHG caused by digital technologies. The report mentions that 10 hours of high-definition videos demand more data than all English articles on Wikipedia. Only in 2018 online video watching generated as much GHG as Spain (The Shift Project, 2019).
Problem of e-waste
Another serious problem is e-waste production. In 2019 there was discarded about 7,3kg of e-waste per person. E-waste comprises of variety large equipment. However, according to the findings of the Global E-waste Monitor most of the e-waste in 2019 was small equipment (UNU and UNITAR, 2020). Fortunately, thanks to the maturity of the market the lifetime of phones is increasing and in 2016 in the USA the average lifetime for smartphones was 22.7 months compared to 20.5 months in 2013 (Kantar Worldpanel, 2017). Despite this environmentally good trend in the smartphone industry, the amount of total generated e-waste increases as well as the amount of e-waste per capita (The Global E-Waste Statistics Partnership, n.d.).
Promotion of consumerism with the use of the Internet
The next thing that is worth mentioning is the fact that the culture is created around new media. Social media feature images of wealth and brands heavily advertise their products online. Influencers effectively facilitate images of wealth and those images strengthen the focus on consumerism. Some people buy clothes only to take a picture and post it on their social media. Such an approach promotes unsustainable buying habits and facilitates overconsumption "Journal of Marketing" published a study on social media which says that it has a big impact on purchases. The Internet offers very effective ways of personalizing communication. Companies can find people who may potentially be interested in buying their products. The technology that allows doing that is getting more and more effective. Brands may for example reach customers that already did some shopping. Such cross-buying techniques used by marketing through Internet significantly impact sales (How social media impacts consumer spending, 2016).
Online shipping
When discussing e-commerce activities, it is important to note that online shopping involves shipping. An MIT study discovered that regular online shopping can produce less CO2 than going to a store. However, rushed online shopping leaves a higher carbon footprint than in-store purchases (Weideli, 2013). Moreover, there is a big trend to introduce very flexible return policies, especially in the fashion industry. Sending one product multiple times is not good for the environment.
Positive aspects of the Internet
However, there are also good aspects of increasing the use of the Internet. It creates vast opportunities and if used correctly may be a great factor in transferring to more sustainable life. In the next part, I am going to analyze the possibilities that the Internet creates for developing, pursuing, and promoting sustainability.
Online purchases
Firstly, I would like to refer to purchases online. Even though flexible return policies may contribute to increased carbon levels when considering purchases that do not return the carbon footprint of online shopping is smaller (Weideli, 2013). Furthermore, it can also engage in the creation of valuable content and find consumers that are interested in the same sustainable objectives (Strähle and Gräff, 2016). The Internet allows people from all over the world or at least countries to buy in a variety of online shops. Living in a small village people are not limited to shops in close physical proximity. Instead, it is possible to purchase things from more sustainable companies. The Internet creates great opportunities for companies to be more transparent. It is possible to include a more detailed description of how a product was produced. There are even companies that state what the price of their products consists of. Furthermore, the ease of online communication can also help with finding new partners and supporting the development of a sustainable and circular economy.
Internet as a medium for journalists and activists
Thanks to hundreds of news webpages and independent journalists that operate online, it is often possible to verify if a company is engaged in some socially and environmentally harmful practices. Tracking a company’s operations is very easy. Very often an ordinary person would not be interested in conducting such research. If information about activities that are not aligned with customers' interests goes viral, it can be very damaging to the company’s image. The Internet also creates opportunities for promoting initiatives that support the circular economy and educate people. Additionally, NGO organizations can collect funds online and together with activists share knowledge about sustainability and ecology. Social media significantly contribute to sharing knowledge and promoting more sustainable lifestyles. People join groups on social media and follow profiles that share valuable knowledge and promote a more sustainable lifestyle.
Technology development for sustainability
The ICT sector is developing very fast. It is obvious that it significantly contributes to global gas emissions. There is a great need for the ICT sector to become more sustainable and use renewable energy and the sector is aware of that need making some adjustments and changes. However, what is further important is the fact that ICT may affect other sectors as well. The development of new technological solutions may increase the effectiveness of resource use in many fields and help other sectors to become smarter and greener (Ahmed, Naeem and Iqbal, 2016). Smart buildings, smart motors, smart logistics are examples of solutions that can significantly contribute to becoming more sustainable. Next, the digital environment may help with limiting the number of travels. Digital communication technologies allow for arranging online meetings without a need to travel and therefore limit CO2 production.
Sustainable Internet connection
The development of technology is essential for making the use of the Internet more effective. New technologies allow for increasing capacities of antennae networks. The new 5G technology requires less energy than for example 4G. Combined with IoT it can also help to minimize the use of power because different sensors can shut down infrastructures that are not required at a particular moment (Cho, 2020). Another example is that those sensors combined with satellites can also optimize water use. Possibilities for such optimizations are almost endless.

I would like to notice that it may be sometimes very difficult to reflect on that matter since the Internet is not commonly associated with a leaving significant carbon footprint. It is widely known that ICT may significantly help with the sustainable transformation. Billions of people use the Internet on daily basis engaging in a variety of online activities. The Internet has also a significant impact on economic and business activities. Many companies pursue their e-commerce strategies extremely effectively. Even governments start to notice how important it is and introduce policies regulating e-commerce activities (WTO, 2020).
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