Earth Day: The Green Side of Data
- BearPeak Design Services
- Apr 21
- 3 min read
The terms 'climate change' and 'sustainability' bring to mind plastic trash and fossil fuels. But there's another contributor behind the scenes: our digital lives come with very real costs.
This Earth Day, we’re exploring the green side of data— the good, the bad, and the ugly. We'll uncover the hidden impacts, potential/hopeful innovations, and the part we can each play to keep this modern, data-driven world spinning.
The Bad: Data has a footprint too.
You might picture data as weightless—just ones and zeros floating in the cloud. But the reality is much heavier.
Every photo we upload, email we send, and show we binge relies on massive physical infrastructure in the form of data centers. These are rooms, buildings, even full facilities packed with servers. Fiber optic cables stretch across continents, and devices constantly ping each other for updates. This won't stop anytime soon, and all of it consumes energy. A lot of it.
Research estimates mark global data center power usage at 1–2% of total electricity use, or 250-500 TWh (terawatt-hours). Add to that the carbon cost of manufacturing new tech, powering billions of devices, and cooling those server rooms, and the invisible damage of our digital habits comes to light.
It should be no surprise that the numbers keep climbing: The IEA predicts "data centres' total electricity consumption could reach more than 1000 TWh in 2026" (IEA, Electricity 2024 Executive Summary). The quest for better AI and machine learning comes with a price, too, climbing from 14% to an estimated 27% of the global market (Goldman Sachs Research, 2024).
So what's the takeaway? Our digital world isn’t as “clean” as its shiny new toys. Energy-hungry data centers, device manufacturing, AI, and internet usage come with carbon costs. While we may not see smokestacks when we hit “send,” the emissions are still there— they're just harder to spot.
The Good: Green Innovations in Data
Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there (not yet, anyways). We're a fortunate species that, despite its planet-sized blunders, still has brilliant innovators. Those problem-solvers are reimagining how we power and manage data.
While being eco-friendly sounds kitschy and trendy for a while, it's very good that businesses hopped on board: Tech giants and startups alike are investing in data centers powered by renewable energy—solar, wind, even hydroelectric. Google, Microsoft, and AWS are building facilities that run on carbon-free electricity, energy-efficient cooling systems, even submerging the servers in liquid.
It’s not just about where the power comes from, but also how we use it. We can make significant changes beyond building better data centers: Engineers are optimizing code, minimizing redundant data storage, and shifting to more efficient hardware. Some even utilize edge computing, which processes data closer to where it’s generated. This cuts down on the energy needed to transmit and store it.
In addition, data is being used to do real good: We're using satellite data and machine learning to monitor deforestation, track ocean pollution, and forecast climate patterns. Analyzing for optimization allows cities to improve energy grids and transportation. Farmers are using data to reduce water waste and chemical runoff. Every bit makes a difference.
The same tools that contribute to our footprint can also helping us shrink it—if we use them wisely.
The Ugly: Doing the Hard Work
Sustainability isn’t sleek or simple. Real change requires effort, trade-offs, even some discomfort. We can’t just wait for big tech to fix everything, so we can at least lead by example:
Spring clean your cloud storage, emails, software bloat, and databases. Does every dataset truly need to be collected and kept forever? Switch to eco-friendly cloud providers. Support data-driven environmental initiatives. We know that these aren't headline-worthy actions, but they add up!
If you're in tech, build with sustainability in mind: efficient code, lower-resolution assets, fewer server calls. If you're a consumer, resist the urge to upgrade devices every year or supporting companies that are transparent about their carbon goals.
It’s not flashy, and it’s not easy. But that’s why it makes a difference. It matters.
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