We are all clear that taking the car or other means of transport pollutes, but what, perhaps, went unnoticed by the vast majority is that Watching a series on a streaming platform also creates a carbon footprint on the planet.

This is how her own confessed Netflix in a recent sustainability report in which it recognized that a half an hour of streaming viewing can create up to 55 gr. CO2 that reaches the atmosphere, the same as if we cooked four bags of popcorn in the microwave.

A fact that is in accordance with a recent study presented by the researchers of the center Internet Interdisciplinary Institute of the Open University of Catalonia in which they reveal that, between 1.8% and 2.8% of CO2 emissions on the planet are produced by the use of internet services since they need to consume a large amount of data.

These are processed in large centers that can consume 250TWh of electricity, enough to give birth to a country like Spain. However, this digital carbon footprint can be reduced depending on how we use our devices because, for example, if we do not turn on the camera during a video call we will consume 61% less data, and therefore less energy.

Like making a video call is less harmful to the environment than, for example, watching a movie. But not only does it matter how we use digital devices, but also how long we do it, because although watching a movie on a streaming platform on television is more polluting than watching it on a mobile phone.

Well the fact that the mobile is on 24 hours a day generates more CO2 than having the TV running to see something. Therefore, experts advise that, like the lights, we turn off technological devices when we are not using them, as difficult as it may seem.