Irony at its best, World Environment Day is celebrated by us – the only species who pollutes. Our modern lifestyle has been life threatening not only to us but other lifeforms causing the evident climate change. While the population is on the rise, there is unethical pollution of the environment by people. While some parts of the world are plagued with massive deforestation, in others water and land is polluted by large factories processing natural resources for our consumption. But all is not doomed, change starts out small and change is coming.
Bringing along the Digital Revolution, the internet has given our planet a new lease on life in more ways than one. The way we live is slowly moving online to become digital and always connected.
During the 21st century’s first decade, the digital trend took root and has picked up quite a bit of momentum since then. In order to sustain life on earth, everyone has joined forces, from government offices to banks, schools, businesses, and accountants. The majority of society has moved to digital options due to the convenience offered by them, instead of keeping records on paper.
Did you know 14 per cent of deforestation is done to satisfy our huge appetite for paper goods. Every 365 days, we destroy approximately 4.1 million hectares of forest because of our paper obsession, the size of Jammu and Kashmir. Fortunately ever since the internet came into existence, paper has steadily become obsolete in favour of digitalisation and as we move into the thick of the 21st century most of us have stopped before printing out emails. Unfortunately, those pesky and annoying newsletters found in the mail have been replaced by equally irritating promotional emails from companies. However, this cloud has a silver lining as paper is not being used to print such newsletters, which were only to end up in the trash can. Hence, going Digital is definitely the key.
By going digital, humanity can save the planet and, in turn, humanity by following these steps:
WORK FROM HOME
In response to the pandemic, many companies have begun allowing their employees to work from home occasionally. The wonders of digital connectivity have made it possible for employees in a particular company to work from home on an office telework day. Among a slew of other features, video conferencing and online records save fuel for cars that would otherwise have to travel to the office. Furthermore, it saves a day’s worth of electricity, easing some of the pressure on the environment.
DOWNLOADING DIGITAL MEDIA AS A REPLACEMENT FOR CDS AND DVDS
As plastic shiny disks gained popularity in the 1990s, DVDs and CDs constituted a large portion of dumped garbage. As a result of digital downloads of movies, podcasts, music albums, etc., the numbers have drastically declined. We have achieved this by minimising or even eliminating the cost of digital downloads and making them more convenient.
As a result, CDs and DVDs produce less waste and our planet is less affected by electronic waste.
OPERATIONS WITHOUT PAPER
In the future, paper money will be replaced by new mediums. Digital media is on top of those mediums. E-wallets like Paytm, PhonePe, Google Tez, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, and the like have flooded our smart devices with cashless payments. Paper token currency has been massively reduced as a result.
Do you enjoy reading the news? It’s no longer necessary to wait for your paperboy to deliver it to your door. In the past few years, most big media companies have begun making their daily copies available online as e papers. In addition to having millions of news articles at your fingertips, you no longer need to store old papers. You can filter the news you wish to read instead of going through clutters of unimportant ads.
REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF POLLUTION
In the process of making paper, machinery emits more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Over 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere for every ton of paper produced. By going digital, air pollution can be controlled more easily.
Paper-related industries also produce a great deal of waste that harms our ecosystem. Keeping your files digital instead of on paper goes a long way towards protecting the environment.
CONTRIBUTE TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH – MAKE THE RIGHT CLICKS
Around the globe, scientists are researching ways to protect our planet from total devastation by the hands of humanity. In order to ensure that our future generations grow up under the shade of trees, we are constantly striving to make sustainable living a reality. Making the right clicks on your digital devices can contribute to environmental research.
The public is still unaware of the benefits of going digital and its positive effects on the environment, despite widespread knowledge about digital media.
Environmental conservation requires a lot of time, effort, and dedication. Such continued efforts made by everyone in the society result in small local victories to protect and safeguard the environment leading to the overall global sustainable development. Going digital helps us to connect with all such localised efforts and their flag bearers. Be it social media posts and videos or fundraising campaigns, the digital world connects the patrons of the environment alike.
It is globally reported that the consumption of energy has become less intense and more efficient as energy-efficient technologies have become more integrated in homes, businesses, and transportation. Thus, digitalisation helps in the reduction of environmental impact of technological advancement.
The writer is the managing director of Indiamanthan Publications.
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