The concept of social responsibility is getting more and more important every year. It is especially important for companies that affect the environment to a greater or lesser extent. While environmental transformation seems to bring mediocre financial benefits to a company, in the eyes of contractors, environmental activities can significantly benefit the company. According to research, customers increasingly turn to products and services from companies committed to environmental protection. An environmentally conscious employer also builds attractiveness in its employees’ eyes.
Technology – an environmental enemy
“My company doesn’t threaten the environment – we store everything online”.
Sending emails, watching videos, storing files in the cloud – these activities seem to have no impact on the environment. After all, the threat is created by newly established factories, and our data is stored online, so we cut down on paper or huge amounts of electronic equipment. Unfortunately, it turns out that even such a small thing as using emojis in our messages impacts CO2 emissions. As Greenpeace points out, typing one keyword into Google generates an average of 7 g of carbon dioxide, and sending an email with an attachment is as much as… 50 g! And even if these numbers don’t seem all that significant for one-time use, with 333.2 trillion emails being sent daily, this figure becomes significant. According to Greenpeace, the Internet generates about 830 billion tons of CO2 annually or 2% of all global emissions. Web traffic isn’t slowing down, either. Studies indicate that digital technologies contribute between 1.4% and 5.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Add to that the growing consumption and increasing quality of transmitted visual and audio content, and the digital environment’s impact becomes larger than the airline industry.
Technology – an ecological friend
“We need to figure out how to have the things we love, and not destroy the world.”
Elon Musk.
We’re all well aware of solutions such as the emergence of green homes, e-commerce solutions of paper packaging used by e-commerce stores, or parcel machines, which reduce traffic pollution and CO2 consumption. However, artificial intelligence seems to play the most prominent role in environmental protection.
AI solutions are already in place in huge IT companies worldwide – helping to optimize processes, manage time and reduce unnecessary costs. However, used correctly, they can do much more while solving long-term environmental challenges. Potential applications for artificial intelligence include:
- Analyzing energy loss.
- CO2 emissions and sequestration.
- Developing more efficient transportation networks.
- Monitoring deforestation and reforestation processes.
- Predicting extreme weather events caused by climate change.
An AI-enabled system can, for example, help farmers map their land to determine optimal fertilization times for specific parts of farmland and ideal planting dates or increase the use of renewable energy within an automated electric grid, optimizing system sustainability while preventing power failures. In the aquatic environment, on the other hand, satellite data can be used with machine learning algorithms to monitor the state of the seas and oceans, detecting fish stocks, pollution and illegal fishing. Artificial intelligence activities are also not going unnoticed in medicine, finance, industry and transportation. With the right processes in place, there will be solutions for everyone.
Small things of great importance
Implementing AI processes focused on green activities while bringing great value can often prove too costly and time-consuming. However, this does not mean that your company’s hands are tied. Sometimes making the slightest changes, such as regularly removing spam from inboxes or deleting unnecessary files from the cloud, can help reduce CO2 emissions in your environment. Encouraging employees to use public transportation, electric scooters or bicycles to reduce their carbon footprint can also be an interesting solution. Many companies also regularly engage in environmental campaigns, segregate trash, or invest in biodegradable cleaning products. The solutions are numerous, and such actions’ effects can also positively surprise financially.
Do it with us
If you still lack ideas on what actions to take in your company, we encourage you to use ours. We are aware of the importance of green activities in our industry, and every day, we try to take at least the smallest actions to support the environment. What is in our daily “green portfolio”?
- Office waste/trash segregation policy and digital waste disposal
- Reduction of paper consumption
- Ongoing environmental awareness communication with employees
- Investment in a “green” server room (green energy powered and cooled by rainwater)
- Encouraging employees to reduce car use
- Company hybrid and electric cars
- Access to filtered water in all offices
- ISO14001 standard at Euvic Solutions
- Participation in environmental actions
