10 ways to use the web that help the environment

If the internet were a nation it would be in the top five of the most polluting countries. Why? Because every action on the web consumes energy and is responsible for the production of Co2. How much depends on what we do and how we do it. For this AvantGrade.com – agency specialized in algorithms and artificial intelligence directed by Ale Agostini – has created a handbook that suggests easy behaviors to reduce the impact on the environment. Small attentions that can make a difference and that Ale Agostini told us on Instagram (in this live broadcast). Here you can find them conveniently listed.

For some time now, AvantGrade has been working to raise awareness of the pollution produced by poorly conscious use of the grid. To help businesses and common users, the Karma Metrix, an algorithm based on artificial intelligence that quantifies the “ecological performance” of one or more web pages by weighing 23 website efficiency factors with respect to the world median. The aim of the project is to create awareness and put energy efficiency and environmental impact at the center of digital projects. Thanks to the Karma Metrix, the AvantGrade handbook was created, which saves up to 130 kg of CO2 every year, equivalent to a car trip from Milan to Barcelona.

1) DELETE USELESS PHOTOS FROM YOUR SMARTPHONE – Out of 10 photos you have on your smartphone, maybe 1
deserves to be kept and backed up. And the others? A healthy habit: delete photos not
use the first of each month.

2) VISIT LITTLE POLLUTING WEBSITES – Web pages emit more or less CO2 based on how
have been technically built and optimized. Look for sites that measure and monitor
CO2 emitted. Copy and paste the web address into the free Karma Metrix web sustainability tool.

3) HEAVY FILES? USE EXCHANGE PLATFORMS – Send mega files via chat and email
consumes a lot of energy. Better to use the cloud or data exchange platforms (like Wetransfer) than
optimize the energy for transferring files by deleting them after a few days.

4) STREAMING BUT CAREFULLY – 30 minutes of streaming on Youtube, Netflix or Fortnite can
to produce up to 59 g of CO2. Optimize energy consumption by not pausing the
video and keeping streaming only if you are actually watching it.

5) CLEAN YOUR EMAIL BOX – Save only important emails and try to have a cleaner inbox
possible. On many PCs and mobile phones there are avalanches of emails taking up data space on both the device
than on servers. The first of each month, do general cleaning and you will also feel more free mentally.

6) DELETE THE APPS YOU DON’T USE – The applications you have on your phone consume energy and
they exchange data even if you don’t use them. If it is true that in general we use a maximum of twenty APPs on the
mobile, delete those not used for over 6 six months.

7) WEB MEETING WITHOUT VIDEO – With smart working, meetings have grown exponentially
via the web with active video which consumes much more energy in the transfer than the audio mode. Better
so use video calling only when needed.

8) MORE TEXT MESSAGES, LESS PHOTOS, VIDEOS AND VOICES – With chats and smartphone a
at your fingertips, messages are increasing with consuming voice, image and video elements
much more than just text in data transfer. Better therefore to prefer text chat or the good
old SMS, which with its 0.014 grams of CO2 per single message remains the most eco-friendly solution
sustainable.

9) ONLY ONE BACKUP – Each user has on average more than one device including PC, tablet and smartphone. Not
duplicating archives or backups on multiple clouds is not necessary and doubles the memory space
occupied and therefore energy consumption.

10) LESS WINDOWS, LESS MULTITASKING – So many lovers of hyper multitasking have more
devices and windows open at the same time. If you are not using it, it is advisable to close the apps and
sessions to reduce the energy of the device. By doing so, you will not disperse your attention from that
what are you really doing.