The downsides of streaming

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Whether via Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or one of the countless other providers - streaming has become an indispensable part of our everyday lives. In recent years, the industry has experienced an unprecedented boom, intensified not least by the Corona crisis. In the meantime, the selection on the various platforms is gigantic and the number of users continues to grow. No wonder, with such a huge offer, there really is something for everyone. But doesn't streaming also have its downsides, which are often swept under the rug?

Streaming online video accounts for about three-quarter of today's global traffic. At the height of the Corona pandemic, when screen time skyrocketed for most people due to curfews, the Internet infrastructure within the EU was so busy that even transmission capacity itself was threatened. Home office - this was only achieved through an agreement between the EU Commission and the managers of the leading entertainment platforms, whereby the picture quality of entertainment services was reduced to ensure sufficient bandwidth for working from home. This temporarily solved one problem, but servers that are constantly running at full speed have a negative impact in completely different ways.

Climate killer streaming?

The fact is that operating servers creates CO₂. Streaming, to the extent that it is practiced today, therefore also has a negative impact on the climate. The good news is that both users and companies can do something about it and at least make a contribution so that watching videos does not become a climate killer. A first, big step in the right direction is, for example, climate- or CO₂-neutral servers that are ideally powered by green electricity. There are also a few practical tips for users on how to save a lot of server power with little effort. These include, for example, not playing music videos if you don't watch them at all or downloading the tracks you want instead of streaming them every time. You can also turn off automatic playback of videos on different platforms to save CO₂. And let's be honest: Do we really need to look at our cell phone while a stream is playing on the TV, laptop or tablet? Second- and third-screen use is not only bad for the climate, but also bad for our health.