Technology and sustainability
ModulesTechnology and sustainability
This micromodule introduces learners to the often-overlooked environmental impacts of technology, from data centers and energy use to e-waste and rare earth mining. It presents two strategies for making technology more sustainable — by using technology to address environmental challenges (greening by technology), and by redesigning technology itself to reduce its environmental impact (greening of technology). Learners are then introduced to concrete principles for sustainable tech design and encouraged to reflect on how these concepts apply to their own field of research or practice. By the end of this micromodule, participants will be able to:
- Identify key environmental and climate impacts associated with technology.
- Distinguish between “greening by technology” and “greening of technology.”
- Apply practical design principles for more sustainable technology.
- Reflect on how sustainability considerations apply to their own research or innovation practices.
- Evaluate the ethical and social implications of sustainable technology choices
The Environmental Impact of Physical Devices
Our phones and devices seem small and portable — but their environmental footprint is massive. This short article explores how technology products affect the environment throughout their lifecycle: from extraction of rare minerals to their disposal as e-waste.
The Environmental Cost of Software and Online Services
We rarely think about the environmental cost of streaming a movie, joining a video call, or downloading a podcast— but the digital world runs on data centers that use huge amounts of energy, water, and land.
Greening Tech — What and How
There are two complementary approaches through which technology can contribute to sustainability:
- Greening by Tech: using technology to enable sustainable solutions (e.g., climate monitoring, carbon tracking, energy-efficient transportation).
- Greening of Tech: making the technologies themselves — including software, cloud, and hardware — more sustainable and energy-efficient.
