It is easy to assume that using social media does not have an effect on the environment. After-all, you're just typing a message or watching a video. However, social media platform to have carbon emissions impact and a new calculator shows which at the best, and which are the worst. It seems TikTok and Reddit are the worst offenders.
UK comparison site, Compare the Market, has a new calculator that allows users to see how much carbon they emit when on social media.
The site highlights how much emissions per minute the major social apps send out. Users simply then plug in the number of minutes they spend on a platform and the calculator will tell them the overall impact.
TikTok is the worst offender, followed closely by Reddit. Those two platforms are significantly higher than other social platforms. Below is the list:
|
Rank |
Application |
Emissions per minute (gCO₂Eq) |
|
1 |
TikTok |
2.63 |
|
2 |
|
2.48 |
|
3 |
|
1.30 |
|
4 |
1.05 |
|
|
5 |
Snapchat |
0.87 |
|
6 |
0.79 |
|
|
7 |
|
0.71 |
|
8 |
|
0.60 |
|
9 |
Twitch |
0.55 |
|
10 |
YouTube |
0.46 |
Speaking about the calculator, Brett Mifsud, Compare the Market's General Manager of Energy said the following:
“Whilst a quick scroll of Facebook won't cause major damage to the environment, spending 5 minutes on each of the ten main social media platforms every day equates to over 20kg of carbon a year, equal to driving 84.5km (52.5 miles), which can do significantly more damage, especially considering the number of social media users across the planet.”
While this is an interesting tool, social media usage is not a major contributor to the overall footprint of a user. Traveling, food consumption, living situations, all play a bigger role in how much carbon you waste each year.
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