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Playlist "36C3: Resource Exhaustion"

Reducing Carbon in the Digital Realm

Chris Adams

In this talk, you'll learn about the environmental impact of the digital products and services you build, why this matters. You’ll be introduced to a mental model, known as Platform, Packets, Process, for measuring and identifying emissions hotspots in digital products, and the steps you can take to reduce them.

You might have heard stories about how bitcoin, or the internet itself, is responsible for an ever-growing share of global carbon emissions.

But it doesn’t need to be this way.

Did you know that just by switching AWS regions in the US, you can wipe out a huge chunk of the carbon footprint from running your tech infrastructure? Most people don't, and we need stuff like this to be common knowledge in our industry - we need to know how to build digital products without needing to emit carbon, the same way we expect people in automotive industries to how to build cars with without needing lead in the fuel.

In this talk, you'll learn about the environmental impact of the digital products and services you build, and a about a mental model, known as Platform, Packets, Process, for measuring and identifying emissions hotspots in the way you build them.

You’ll also see how to use skills you already have to make meaningful, measurable improvements to the environmental impact of the digital products and services you build, and the open source tools available to support you in your efforts to green your stack.