At first glance, e-learning or digital learning seems like a very environmentally friendly solution: no printed books, no commuting, no energy costs for physical classrooms. But is e-learning as eco-friendly as it seems? We investigated how it can be improved even further.
The Thing with the Footprint
Whenever we can do something digitally, we like to bask in the feeling of acting especially resource-conservingly and thus sustainably. Our computer activities fly through the ether and invisibly bypass everything that might cause us discomfort regarding environmental protection in the physical world: we produce no waste or emissions, we consume no water, paper, or other materials and let the animal and plant kingdoms remain undisturbed. Instead, we sit at our digital devices, typing and clicking harmlessly away.
Because more sustainability is also demanded in the education sector, e-learning eases our conscience through clear ecological advantages. Let’s take a look at the extent to which digital learning can have a better environmental balance compared to in-person learning.
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The Benefits of E-Learning for the Environment
1. No Commuting to Classes
One of the biggest contributions of e-learning to sustainability is the elimination of commuting. Both learners and instructors do not have to travel to the location, which leads to a significant reduction in CO₂ emissions. Especially people with flight shame are happy when they can attend a distant or international class digitally without having to board the increasingly unpopular airplane.
2. No Physical Teaching Materials
Traditional learning materials like books, workbooks, or writing utensils are largely unnecessary in e-learning. By providing learning content digitally, not only is paper consumption drastically reduced: the entire energy and raw material consumption incurred by the production, storage, and transportation of physical teaching materials is also saved.
Exams and assessments are also conducted digitally, making the need for printed exam materials obsolete. This saves precious paper on the one hand and reduces the effort and CO₂ emissions associated with distributing and storing physical exam documents on the other.
3. No Energy Consumption for Venues
Seminar and training rooms for in-person events must be heated, lit, and maintained at scheduled times, regardless of how many or how few learners attend an event. As learning increasingly takes place digitally at home, the energy expenditure for the infrastructure of traditional venues, seminar hotels, and the like significantly decreases, as fewer rooms are needed overall.
Venues can thus use their space more efficiently, and in the long run, the need for new buildings for educational purposes decreases, which in turn reduces the consumption of building materials and associated CO₂ emissions - and quite incidentally takes less space from nature.
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What Lies Hidden
Although we already find e-learning quite excellent due to these advantages, it does have a few hidden environmental impacts that most people are not consciously aware of:
1. Servers and Data Centers
E-learning relies on a gigantic digital infrastructure that requires cloud services, streaming platforms, and servers. Server farms and data centers are housed in large buildings that remain hidden or unknown to most people. The many devices within must operate around the clock and, crucially, be cooled, leaving a significant ecological footprint. According to studies, data centers account for about 1% of global electricity consumption, and this number is steadily increasing.
2. Resource-Intensive Hardware Production
To participate in digital learning, one necessarily needs a computing device: PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. The production of these devices already requires a high energy demand, but even in the preceding production steps, namely the extraction and processing of the necessary raw materials such as copper, gold, and tin as well as lithium and cobalt, significant environmental damage, human rights issues, and habitat loss often occur.
3. Short Lifespan of Digital Devices
The computing devices required for e-learning often have a limited lifespan, which is shortened further by the constant introduction of new hardware and software technologies. The demand for ever more powerful devices increases the pressure on the necessary raw material sources, and on the other hand, the mountain of electronic waste (E-Waste), which is often not recycled, grows.
4. Water Consumption
The production of electronic devices requires large amounts of water, especially in semiconductor manufacturing. This water consumption contributes to environmental issues in regions with water scarcity and is often overlooked when only considering the energy aspect.
5. Electromagnetic Pollution
The increased use of Wi-Fi networks and mobile technologies to support e-learning leads to higher electromagnetic radiation, known as "electrosmog." While the effects on the environment and human health have not yet been comprehensively researched, electrosmog is considered a potential factor that could be harmful in the long run.
Oh dear - this all sounds terribly depressing, as many of these points seem to lie beyond our reach, leaving us unable to change anything. Or can we?
Good News: E-Learning Can Be Made Even More Sustainable
E-learning is, of course, just one area in the use of computing devices, so the above aspects of the hidden ecological footprint apply to any moment a digital device is in operation.
The operators of data centers know very well that they need to improve their environmental balance, and companies like Google and Microsoft have already launched initiatives to switch their data centers completely to renewable energy or to establish them increasingly in climatically favorable areas where the energy consumption for cooling systems is lower.
However, there are a few things that you as a provider or organizer of online courses can do directly to act in a more environmentally conscious manner:
1. Raise Awareness of Energy Consumption
Both educational providers and learners should be made aware of the energy consumption of online courses. Inform your course participants about the energy consumption involved in producing and operating electronic devices.
You could also encourage them to actively pay attention to minimizing energy consumption: for example, they could use energy-efficient devices that consume less power and utilize their devices' power-saving modes more consistently, such as putting screens into sleep mode after short periods of inactivity.
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2. Promote the Procurement of Sustainable Devices
It doesn't always have to be the latest high-end device to learn digitally: there are now numerous online shops where you can purchase affordable used computing devices that have been sustainably refurbished. This way, you get a device that might be a few generations older and perhaps not as pretty due to some signs of wear, but it's fully functional, and as long as it’s not too old, you can access learning platforms and complete digital courses with it just fine.
Used computing devices not only conserve manufacturing resources but also reduce the amount of electronic waste.
3. Reduce the Data Volume of Teaching Materials
When designing your digital teaching materials, ensure that the files are as small as possible. Image files within documents quickly drive up the file size, and videos are usually very data-intensive as well. So, process your image files and videos before uploading them to your learning platform to ensure they take up as little storage space as possible.
Pay particular attention to the length and resolution (Full HD is usually unnecessary) of your videos. Check before uploading whether you can still compress them to reduce the data volume. When your course participants later load or play these files during the course, it goes much faster and consequently generates significantly fewer CO₂ emissions.
Additionally, smaller files require less Wi-Fi bandwidth, making retrieval or streaming easier in regions with limited internet infrastructure. This aspect could also be important for some of your online course participants.
In Our Own Right
Resource conservation is a top priority at blink.it: Managing Director Michael Witzke tirelessly advocates that we, as a software provider, must consider sustainability:
The work devices of the team (laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other work tools) are used for as long as possible and, if necessary, repaired.
In terms of energy consumption for our office operations, Michael has succeeded in reducing energy costs by a staggering 60 % through the installation of an intelligent control system.
Through remote work or home office, our employees largely avoid road traffic. Moreover, we promote the use of public transport, and those living nearby prefer to ride their bikes to the office.
Each of us welcomes and supports these efforts and is happy to contribute to resource conservation in our everyday work.
Everything Begins with Mindfulness
Overall, digital learning is more sustainable than in-person events, primarily due to the reduction of travel and the lower need for physical teaching materials. However, the digital infrastructure of e-learning comes with its own environmental burdens that are often underestimated - particularly the energy consumption of data centers and the environmental consequences of device production.
For e-learning to become even more sustainable, course providers and participants must handle digital resources more consciously. The use of renewable energy, energy-efficient technologies, and sustainable devices helps all stakeholders further enhance the positive effects of digital learning and minimize the ecological footprint.
As always, when it comes to sustainability, it can only be said: we all must do our part, at all times and in all aspects of our daily lives. This also includes digital learning, which has been a part of it for several years now. So: Let’s take care of it!
We hope that this article has provided you with some useful information and practical tips, and we wish you continued enjoyment with your e-learning!
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