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by jve 49 days ago
Have you ever made a decision to NOT download something, turn on your computer, experiment, etc based on your perceived impact on the planet?

I mean this should (and is) be tackled at the source: 0/low emission energy generation and not consumer having to think about these decisions. Sustainable data centers using renewables etc. But not that the companies should associate/evaluate/consider bytes downloaded with environmental impact.
3 comments
duskdozer 48 days ago
>not consumer having to think about these decisions

Consumers vote and advocate for what they want and don't want. There are many who say it's not an individual problem and should be dealt with broadly through regulation, then also oppose any attempts at regulation.

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Aachen 49 days ago
> this should (and is) be tackled at the source: 0/low emission energy generation and not consumer having to think about these decisions.

Until we're at that point though, the 'winners' in this market society (that wield unimaginable amounts of money = resources) such as Google could certainly think about consequences of their choices. And they usually do to some extent, I'm not saying they don't, just that electric supply and demand has two sides to it

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vrganj 48 days ago
I'm going to assume you work in tech and know the issues that come with scale.

Me, individually not doing something is gonna absolutely be drowned out by the scale of many other people not thinking of it or being incentivized against it.

This is a systemic issue. A systemic issue needs a systemic solution, not a blame shift to the individual.

We didn't get rid of lead in gas or asbestos in walls by telling people it was bad for them. We did so by banning it.

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