Digital habits for a healthier planet

As the popular film title suggested, the kids may be all right, but our planet certainly isn’t. In 2024, we experienced some of the hottest days ever recorded, and this trend does not seem to let up. The oceans are still warming and rising. Since 1970, wildlife populations have declined by 73% on average. Plastic? Everywhere. Reaching the “net zero” pledged in the Paris Agreement seems unrealistic as very little progress has been made to decrease carbon emissions. If anything, those emissions are predicted to rise by 0.8% in 2024. Nevertheless, some politicians continue to disregard the planetary emergency we find ourselves in, leaving the communities-at-risk to fend for themselves.

All of this paints a grim picture, causing young people to suffer extreme levels of anxiety linked to uncertainty of their future on our burning planet. While affecting all of humanity equally, younger generations were the first ones to grow up in a world where climate disasters became the norm, not the exception. Sometimes, this results in fatalism and resignation, and while understandable, those are of little help when it comes to taking action for climate justice. So, if climate emergency is indeed impossible to ignore, we should all become better-equipped in thinking about the possible ways to stop and revert it, and applying those strategies in our personal lives. After all, caring about our planet isn’t just about fearing the future; it’s about loving, preserving and refusing to let go of those wonderful things that we still have. It is not fear, but the power of love and care for our planet is the feeling we need to harness to fight climate change.

‎

Our steps towards the better future

At Yubo, we take our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments seriously. Among them is raising awareness about climate change. Using the influence we have within our industry, we aspire to always support and contribute to the fight for better climate. We believe that promoting high standards of conduct in tech as well as encouraging positive behaviors in our industry, our workplace and among our users are fundamental to accomplishing sustainable growth in the long term.

At Yubo headquarters in Paris we have implemented some important steps towards eco-friendliness. We recycle our office waste in partnership with Les Joyeux Recycleurs. We also switched away from using plastic cups in the office as well as stopped using coffee capsules, opting in for coffee beans with less packaging instead. Finally, we transformed our rooftop terrace into an urban garden where we grow fruit, vegetables and herbs! This helps us to reduce the building's carbon footprint and encourages our colleagues to spend some time in a natural environment, participating in practice of “urban picking”. All these little steps are designed to reduce the negative impact on the environment that modern workplaces unfortunately contribute to, and to relieve the personal stress associated with climate change as everyone gets to play their part in making the future a little more liveable.

‎

‎

Is there anything you can do?

We all know about the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling. However, in our increasingly digitized lives, it is important to remember that technology has a carbon footprint too. Every text you send, TikTok you scroll past and duplicate photos you forget to delete from your device uses energy, and that energy often comes from fossil fuels, the primary culprit of global warming. But don’t worry, we’re not here to make you feel guilty! Instead, we’d like you to consider digital sustainability and see what tweaks you can implement into your daily digital habits to offset the impact you have on the environment. The movement for digital sustainability is designed to teach us to think about using technology in a way that is mindful of our shared planet. So, here’s some inspiration if you’ve been waiting to switch things up and contribute to a better future.

Remember to organize your cloud

With the abundance of digital files we hold on to, our cloud storage can quickly become cluttered and unruly. But in the same way that money doesn’t grow on trees, your cloud files don’t go to a mysterious secret place outside our physical world. They are stored on servers somewhere, and those servers are powered by energy. This is why it is extremely important to sort through and organize your files to make sure you’re not keeping things you don’t need. Remember to delete emails you’re unlikely to open, unsubscribe from irrelevant newsletters and clean up your photo library deleting duplicates, unnecessary screenshots and the like.

Don’t cycle through your devices too fast

We all know how great a shiny new smartphone feels! However, e-waste is a big contributor to the planetary environmental issues that we face. In 2019, 53.6 million metric tonnes of e-waste was produced in the world. Only 17.4% of this waste was collected and recycled. When considering a new gadget, think back to these numbers. If your current smartphone or laptop still works, maybe you should hold onto it, and if it doesn’t – try repairing it first. When you do decide to upgrade, make sure to recycle the old one properly.

Remember to mind your power habit

Did you know that standby power could use up to 10% of your overall household energy, and is responsible for 1% of total global CO2 emissions, which is equivalent to the output of several large power plants? Keeping this in mind, it is important to unplug your devices, as they still draw energy when plugged in, even if not in use. If you have power strips installed in your home, remember to use them too as they allow you to cut power from multiple devices simultaneously. Other things you could do include turning your devices off instead of just leaving them to “sleep” as well as using energy-efficient settings such as dark mode.

Search sustainably

Your web search traffic produces carbon emissions too. For instance, Google produces 0.11 grams of CO2 per search. This is why it’s important to choose a good search engine that can help you offset your carbon footprint. Here’s the list of engines you could try using!

• Ecosia: If you love trees, this one is for you. 100% of Ecosia’s profits go to climate action, with 80% of their income spent on planting trees. Importantly, they plant native tree species and stay away from monocultures.
• Ekoru: This search engine helps you to clean up plastics from the ocean with every click. They also help to “reforest” it by planting ocean seagrass. Ekoru works with initiatives such as Big Blue Ocean Cleanup and Operation Posidonia.
• OceanHero: This is another engine for ocean lovers. Like Ekoru, they prevent the plastic from entering our oceans, and they do it with style! On average every 5 searches with OceanHero helps recover one plastic bottle.

So here you go! Now you know about some simple strategies to help you offset your digital carbon footprint. While small, all of the above can help us make a huge difference and move towards maintaining our planet for ourselves and the generations to come.

‎

Soothing the climate anxiety

Sometimes being looped into a 24/7 news cycle, reporting on each and every way in which we are killing our planet, can generate feelings of helplessness and anxiety. But here’s the deal: while it’s absolutely understandable to feel overwhelmed by the state of things, it’s also important not to let that anxiety rule over our everyday life. We need to stay optimistic, if the current climate emergency is the problem we intend to solve. So if you’re in need of a breather, we’d like to offer you a list of things you could try to soothe the negative emotions associated with climate change.

Take small action every day

Being the huge problem it is, climate change tends to make people feel powerless about ever stopping it. However, implementing small eco-conscious habits into your life can help you to feel that you’re not staying idle and indifferent. It also connects you to the larger movement of people who take the current state of affairs as seriously as you do.

Remember to touch grass

Being in nature can remind us why we care about our planet and ecology. Go outside to sit under an old tree, grab your binoculars and go do some birdwatching or simply take a brief walk in your local park. Appreciating nature and staying connected to it can give us a welcome relief from the stress and anxiety we’re feeling.

Give hope a chance

With so much doomer content on the internet, it can sometimes feel unavoidable. But we challenge you to surround yourself with positive news, too! Give some activist initiatives a follow on social media, or find and watch a documentary about people making real change in the world. Get inspired into action, not scared into it.

Stay connected

Another thing to remember is that you’re not alone in this fight. There’s a whole generation of young people who are taking action every day, as concerned about the planet as you are. So make sure to find your people. Go on a march, chat with your friends, or even find someone on Yubo by using our causes tags. Knowing that you belong in a group of like-minded people can help you soothe the anxiety from feeling like you’re all on your own.

We know that the climate crisis is real. Feeling anxious about it is also totally understandable. But remember that the key to reducing that anxiety is taking climate action, focusing on the love for the planet, and finding moments of inspiration. It’s impossible to save the world overnight, but every small action adds up.

Remember to take breaks from the doom and gloom, we won’t judge you for spending some time scrolling TikTok, but make sure to come back when you are feeling recharged and remember to balance it out with some positive action!