While many businesses are tanking due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, one service is thriving and seeing unprecedented growth for Q1 2020: streaming giant Netflix.
According to its latest report, 15.8 million new paid subscribers have signed up from January to March, accounting for a 29 percent increase in revenue from the same period last year.
If that’s good news for Netflix, 16 million new streamers who can now watch at home unhindered for hours on end may be a problem for Earth. Why?
Data transmission, which includes video and music streaming around the world accounts for roughly one percent of global carbon emissions. This is according to a study conducted by the Paris thinktank Shift Project, which concluded that “the digital overconsumption trend is not sustainable in regard to its need for energy and raw materials.”
Their report cites the environmental impact that it entails to produce content and to transmit these digital information using hardware like servers and transmitters, not to mention its dependence on electricity, a resource heavily dependent on fossil fuel burning.
Late in March, Netflix, following a request from the National Telecommunications Commission, announced that it will be reducing video streaming quality to reduce its traffic on telecommunications as many people are now conducting virtually everything online.
The cap on video quality for 30 days is set to lapse this weekend.
What should you do?
On your end, simple steps such as limiting your daily Netflix watch hours to a minimum is one thing you can do. Oh, and just like the television, do not sleep with your screen on. Make sure to exit the application, turn off and unplug your device before hitting snooze.
Another step is—since streaming and digital consumption is also a matter of energy consumption—to reevaluate electrical appliance’s electricity use. During summer, consider utilizing natural light and air instead of turning on bulbs and airconditioning units.
[READ: 10 ways you can stay cool at home without cranking up the AC]
And finally, because in reality, putting the blame on our lifestyle choices is really just scapegoating that absolves larger corporations of responsibility (thanks for pointing this out, environmentalist Emma Marris), we should also focus our energies on demanding change through petitions, joining environmental groups and causes or something as simple as writing to your leaders.
[READ: Write to leaders, eat more greens, turn off the AC: What to do this Earth Day and beyond]
“If we don’t do those eco-friendly things, we feel super-guilty, as if we’ve failed the planet and we’re going to eco-hell,” said Marris in an interview. “The alternative is to demand big changes in the systems in which we live so that the cheapest, easiest option is the greenest option.”
Header photo by Mollie Sivaram on Unsplash
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