For the majority of my life, I’ve sat on a laptop and used broadband to write my thoughts and ideas on the Internet. It’s been the lifeblood of my creativity, and now my business; it keeps me reliably connected to my favourite sites and social media platforms without me even thinking about it!
Yet it’s never come into question whether broadband could be sustainable. When I think about it, I imagine invisible rays that connect me to my router via wifi, and then a long-running cable that spins off into the world and somehow plugs me into a digital society. How on earth could this affect the planet?
#OffsetYourInternet
According to a 2010 report by the Guardian, the internet emits 300m tonnes of carbon each year. This is the equivalent more than half of the fossil fuels burned in the UK – and this figure may be even more now!
Of course, this is the world’s collective usage, but it still raises the question of how we can reduce this. It’s easy to reduce carbon emissions related to travel (less flights, more public transport), food (buy local and in season), or fashion (buy second-hand). But what about the internet?
Well, BroadbandDeals.co.uk is changing things for the better. Their broadband comparison website enables users to offset 200kg of carbon emissions for every deal bought through the site.
This 200kg offset is enough to cover the internet-related emissions of an average UK household, meaning your internet usage can be carbon neutral.
You can choose to support three different carbon-positive schemes too:
- Tree planting in the UK
- Clean stoves in Kenya
- Wind power in India
All three of these are accredited to the Verified Carbon Standard by CarbonFootprint.com.
Of course, if you’d like to improve this further, I’d recommend also calculating your total carbon emissions for the year and making simple changes such to reduce your emissions, such as switching to a renewable energy supplier.
Switching my broadband provider
Just this month, I switched my broadband contract by using BroadbandDeals.co.uk. My landlord knows I work from home a lot, so he left me to choose a deal that works for me – I wanted high-speed internet that would reliably work, even when my boyfriend is eating up the bandwidth playing on the Xbox!
Using the site was super easy – I simply entered my postcode to find out what broadband types were available to me. I was pleased to find both standard and fibre were possible, and that all the applicable deals were displayed in a list for me to choose from.
Since purchasing a new broadband contract, I’ve had the new router delivered, and am just waiting for the switchover to happen in the next few days. It’s been a super smooth process: I’ve managed to get a better deal than our existing broadband, as well as offset the entire household’s carbon emissions relating to their internet usage. Thank you BroadbandDeals.co.uk!
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by BroadbandDeals.co.uk. My views and opinions expressed remain my own.
