IT has been at the heart of a lot of green policies in the workplace, but it’s often seen as a magic wand to reduce environmental impact, rather than a tool which can have its own impact.

The consequences of printing resources have been a big consideration for many companies. Variations on “think before you print” have shown up in email signatures and signs next to printers for years and, in many places, there’s been a noticeable shift. Printed agendas and handouts for meetings have given way to sending files electronically ahead of time. Forms are sent, completed, signed, and returned without a single hard copy. Printed brochures, leaflets and customer letters haven’t gone away entirely, but emails take their place more and more.  

Business travel has undergone a huge shift too. Even five years ago, discussions about greener options tended to focus on how you should travel, rather than if you should; for example, walking or cycling to work, choosing public transport or car sharing over driving alone to your office or a meeting location. Now, in many industries, face-to-face meetings and days in the office have become rare things as meetings have moved online and working from home has become standard.

Both of these changes have a clear – and positive – effect on the environmental impact of the average person’s working life. But how do we keep the solution from turning into the problem? By now, considering whether you really need a hard copy before hitting print is second nature for a lot of people; but would you apply the same consideration to sending an email? Probably not.

Manufacturing and transport get a lot of the focus when it comes to environmental impact, and for good reason. But did you know that digital activity consumes between 4 and 6% of global electricity and emits more CO₂ than the aviation industry? All those emails, files, and virtual meetings play their part in those figures; the individual actions might have a small effect, but cumulatively it’s much more significant.

So, is it all doom and gloom? No – we just need to keep making sensible decisions and understand that technology isn’t automatically good for the environment. IT is so ubiquitous that it’s almost impossible to find a person or a company that doesn’t use it in some way. But there are choices we can all make – whether you’re looking at your own impact or developing a policy for your organisation.

Here are four areas to consider if you want to make greener choices when you use IT:

Devices

If you look at the environmental impact of a device like a smartphone, tablet or computer, the manufacturing process is a huge part. Releasing new models – and creating a desire to always have that latest model – is standard for big tech companies. But keeping your existing tech for longer means delaying the need to manufacture a replacement. Sometimes that can just mean choosing to ignore the lure of a shiny new product; other times it can mean choosing to get something repaired instead of replacing it.

When your device does need to be replaced, there are also choices that you can make; selling or donating your old one for a second life or choosing a disposal option that means it will be processed for recycling. Buying refurbished tech is generally cheaper and can be better for the environment. Or, when buying brand new, choose devices that are designed to be more energy efficient or that are manufactured in a more environmentally friendly way.

Apps

Environmental impact isn’t just for physical products; if you’re using a new digital product (or getting a lot of use out of one you’ve used for years), think about the knock-on effect. For example, AI tools can help you find information online, but it’s estimated that a single ChatGPT request uses nearly 10 times more electricity than a Google search.  

Streaming has become a standard way to consume videos and music. One report found that you would have to listen to the same album more than 27 times for the energy used by streaming to exceed the energy used to produce a CD. So streaming may be the greener option when you’re exploring new music, but it’s still worth considering a physical copy for your favourites. And, of course, buying second hand is greener still.

Emails

Every email sitting in your mailbox is physically stored on a server somewhere. Data centres use a lot of electricity, not just to power the servers but also to cool the building so that they don’t overheat. Tidying your inbox regularly and deleting any emails you don’t need any more will reduce the amount of storage you’re using. And if some of those emails were from companies and mailing lists you’re no longer interested in, why not take a moment to hit unsubscribe so you don’t get more?

Sending fewer emails can also make a difference. That could mean thinking about who really needs to see each email rather than choosing reply-all or sending to a whole team. It could mean taking a moment to double check that you’ve included everything so that you won’t need to send a follow up email. It could even mean finishing a conversation one email earlier than usual. Ovo Energy’s “Think Before You Thank” campaign encouraged people not to send emails just to thank someone; they estimated that if every UK adult sent one fewer ‘thank you’ email a day, it would save as much carbon per year as 81,000 flights to Madrid.  

Files

Think about the journey that a file takes if you attach it to an email – there’s the original copy, then a new one attached to the email sitting in each recipient’s inbox, plus another sitting in your sent items. That could be a lot of copies, even before people start making changes and sending new versions around. Each one of those is a separate file taking up server space.

In comparison, sending a link to a file that’s saved online – or on your company’s shared drives – means that there’s still only that one copy. Plus, if you need to make sure that no-one makes unwanted changes, you’ll usually have an option to share the file as read-only.

Finding ways to make IT good for the planet is a key priority for BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, whether we’re influencing government policy or bringing like-minded IT professionals together to discuss solutions.

If you’re looking for more ways to reduce your impact, or if you want to help your organisation to reduce its impact, you could learn more by completing a BCS Green IT e-learning course. We’ve got three modules to choose from.

Module 1 would suit you if you’re an individual looking to gain a basic understanding of Green IT and change your own behaviours. Module 2 would fit if you want to learn more about sustainable policies and their effects. Or choose Module 3 if you’re responsible for strategy or sustainability in your organisation.