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Online Video Call Carbon Calculator

Ever Wondered About the Carbon Footprint of Your Video Calls?

Need to compare the carbon output of a video call against the carbon created by travelling? Now you can! No Lesser Panda has created an interactive online calculator that you can use to help weigh up the environmental benefits of having an online meeting versus meeting up in person, or vice versa in some cases. You can also compare the potential carbon savings that you can make by lowering the video quality settings of your call or turning your camera off.

During an online discussion a question came up about the benefits of online conferences and could they prehaps have a larger carbon footprint than in person meetings?

The short answer is no, currently online calls are almost always going to be better than travelling somewhere to meet in person. However this is on the basis of one off calls, when considering the use of conference calls when weighing up working from home the situation could be a little more nuanced. If you can walk, cycle or use public transport to reach the to the meeting place or if the call is likely to be very long then the benfits start to tip away from online calls. In future the growing use of electric cars may have an impact too.

There is a fairly significant degree of uncertainty around the power intensity of data transmission, this is partly caused due to a lack of transparency and the complex nature of total data transmission rates and total energy usage of the ICT sector, this could have a major imapct on the positives, or the negatives, of video calls, this will be discussed further in a later article.

Make it More Sustainable

Here are some simple tips to make your conference calls more sustainable:

Drop the Quality

1080p HD video might be appropriate for watching the latest blockbuster on Netflix but for most cases its probably not necessary for a video call, check the video settings for your call and make sure you are using lower standards of video in order to cut down your carbon output.

Switch the Camera Off

Hate showing off your bookshelf to world? Well now you have another reason to not turn your camera on, the calculator shows that turning your camera off could cut the carbon output of the call by a factor of 10.

Online Sustainability

If you are interested in the carbon footprint of your website then No Lesser Panda can help! Read more about my sustainable web design services or drop me a message via the contact form or send me an email through [email protected] for a free consultation.

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