Read this article posted by CNN called “New services promise online life after death”. Is internet usage increasing so much that it can be related to “real-life” actions?

[excerpt]

Your husband, an avid gamer and techie, dies of a heart attack, leaving his vast online life ­– one you don’t know much about ­– in limbo. Eternal Space lets loved ones create customized online grave sites and memorial pages. His accounts, to which you don’t know the passwords, go idle. His e-mails go unanswered, his online multiplayer games go on without him and bidders on his eBay items don’t know why they can’t get an answer from the seller. Web site domains that he has purchased, some of which are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,­ will expire, and you may never know.

It’s a scenario that’s becoming more likely as we spend more of our lives online. And it’s raising more questions about what happens to our online lives after we log off for the final time.

online graves!? what?! is this practical in the online-obsessed world we live in or is it ridiculous?

This was her comment >> “how sustainable is the internet? all the resources used to sustain the internet community also have to come from somewhere. electricity that keeps computers, servers, modems, etc running. where does that come from? does it come from a coal burning power plant, or a dam?”

As technology progressed in the past few years and companies are seemingly taking more green routes, I kind of just believed the internet was more sustainable. Linda made a good point; all the resources to power the internet have to come from somewhere (just like any other product’s materials or sources). So, I did some research (using the internet, is that hypocritical?)

Here are some key things that I found

+ The UK Energy Saving Trust reported in 2005 that office workers who leave their computers on standby/asleep cost British industry £123.2 million per year in energy bills! Home computers on standby waste £41 million per year. The “standby” behavior is allegedly responsible for 1 MILLION tons of carbon being pumped into the atmosphere each year. Global warming people…

+ In 2006 an Ask.com representative claimed that the five leading search companies were responsible for about 2 million servers. Think about how often you use Google.

+ In 1997 it was estimated that by 2003, e-materialization of paper can cut energy consumption by about 0.25% of total industrial energy use and net [greenhouse gas] GHG emissions. By 2008, the reductions are likely to be more than twice as great. In my opinion, too much of one thing is never good. One day the internet will be relied on TOO much and there will not be enough resources to power it…and by then other methods of communication and information are obsolete.

+ It is also believe the Internet Economy could render unnecessary as much as 3 billion square feet of buildings >> about 5% of U.S. commercial floor space. This saves construction-related energy. By 2010, e-materialization of paper, construction, and other activities could reduce U.S. industrial energy and GHG emissions by more than 1.5%. These sound more like excuses to let the digitial world take over the physical world. Who makes these decisions? Do they ever think about the aesthetics of life? People don’t relate to computer screens, people relate to people. Could future businesses be run without office buildings… ?

+ This author of this article wrote about how the internet is causing “invisible” environmental damage; this is really similar to the whole idea of “Closed Loop”. With garbage, we don’t really see what happens to it or where it goes because it gets sent off to places (landfills) far, far away. And we won’t ever see them again (until landfills spill over into our front yards). Anyways, same idea applies to the internet. We go online using a device with a back-lit screen and then turn off the device when we are done. Users get no feedback as to how much energy they are using to check their email, use AIM, or search something in Google. There are battery icons, but that is usually just to tell us when to suck more energy out of outlets. Maybe our computers should get hotter and hotter to simulate the Global Warming thats consequently happening, oh wait THEY DO.

Read more at this great article I found >> Information Economy

In conclusion, do not use paper products or use anything with a digital screen. Okay, not really, but the internet is not necessarily sustainable. Perhaps in the past it was considered MORE sustainable than books/newspapers because it reduced paper production. However now, the internet has taken a whole new form. It is not just on computers, its on telephones, PDAs, web cafes, etc. A part of being green is being minimal; too much of anything is never good. I think a balance needs to be established. Rules and regulations about the internet economy should be negotiated and enforced before things get out of control. Other alternatives are being explored, but if coal continues to be the standard method of producing the energy used to power these electricity plants… we are in trouble.

Oy. Even more puzzled about my project. Brilliant ideas to come soon.. I hope..

Krystal