Circular Economy: “The Most Radical Idea We Can Afford” betterplace lab

YouTube is where preschoolers go for their Baby Shark fix. It’s where beauty bloggers rejoice as they unbox their new favorite lipstick. As it turns out, the website—my 3-year-old niece’s one and only true love—also contributes to climate change in a fairly significant way.  YouTube emitted an estimated 11 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2016, according to scientists at the University of Bristol who are presenting their research Thursday at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. That’s greater than Amsterdam’s annual footprint. The good news, the researchers say, is that simple design changes could help these services reduce this carbon footprint. In fact, YouTube could reduce its emissions by up to 551,000 tons, by simply allowing viewers to use the app with an inactive screen when, say, they’re streaming music.