Is Video Streaming Harming the Planet?
Video streaming may fit your budget, but is it green to stream?
Do you watch streaming video?
- The average American spends about five hours per day watching television (source: EPA).
- The average Briton spends just under 4 hours a day watching TV. (source: BBC)
- Less TV is watched in Australia, the Scandinavian countries and China. (source: Statista)
The question is, how do you watch your favourite shows? Via cable TV? Satellite TV? DVDs? Video streaming?
More than two-thirds of Americans now watch using video streaming.
What about the Planet?
When you are deciding if video streaming will be good for your budget and convenient to watch, consider the planet also.
All forms of entertainment consume energy and emit greenhouse gases – but some more than others.
One of the worst ways to watch films and shows is on older-model DVD players, which use a lot of energy. Add in the environmental cost of getting films from Hollywood to a store, and your transport emissions and energy consumption driving to the store to buy or rent a DVD, and suddenly, video streaming starts to look much more eco friendly!
Streaming is greener than DVDs, and interestingly, it’s often greener than satellite or cable TV too – due to the carbon footprint of set-top boxes.
It seems that cloud computing (as used by Netflix for example) to serve up video is relatively energy efficient.
That’s good news for video streaming fans!
It All Depends…
However, don’t just assume you’re green if you stream!
It all depends upon HOW you stream.
If you stream via a games console for example, you’re using LOADS more energy than you need to – about 10 x as much energy – yes, TEN times more energy than streaming on a laptop or tablet.
2 Quick Energy Tips
If you stream via your internet-connected TV (and do you really need a huge TV screen? – smaller is greener and the TV doesn’t dominate the room), then be sure to set your TV to the “home” or “standard” setting, which uses less energy. Reducing the brightness can reduce your television’s energy use by 18 -30%. (See 6 ways to save money by using your TV more efficiently)
And of course, if you’re buying new home electronics products, always choose Energy Star or Energy Efficient products—they will use 25-30% less energy than standard equipment.
There’s More….
Below is a useful infographic (click here for a larger version), and there’s a short, informative video on streaming here
Please spread the word about streaming video – sharing buttons below and right – thank you!
Interesting and slightly surprising comparisons here for sure..