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AOP Sustainability - Quick Wins and more

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The AOP Sustainability Working Group discuss some 'quick wins' to get your business on a more sustainable footing.

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Change electricity to green energy

Look at green policies of website host

Use recycled paper and print less

Use green transport, walk, cycle

Use rechargeable batteries

Get secondhand equipment

Use AdGreen's Carbon Calculator for shoots

Use Green insurance

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The AOP Sustainability Working Group is tasked with demystifying sustainability within photography and short-form moving image production and providing clear strategies for all professional image-makers to use in the urgent pursuit of a net-zero carbon future.

We will provide information on the business case for photographers and producers to be developing low carbon or carbon-free ways of working, along with linking to tools to measure greenhouse gas emissions from shoots/production and how to use that data to benefit your clients and business.

This is a place to find out about carbon reduction techniques to be used within your production decisions that will help bring the industry towards the only viable option we have, which is a carbon-neutral economy.

WORKING GROUP

WG Chair, AOP non-executive director and Accredited Photographer, Holly McGlynn

AOP Agent member and AOP non-executive director, Hat Margolies

AOP Affiliated Company member, Angus Light, Producer and Founder - Locate Productions

AOP Accredited Photographer, Carol Sharp

AOP Accredited Photographer, Kai Bastard - Bad Star Studios

AOP CEO, Isabelle Doran

AOP Marketing Manager, Suzanne McDougall

AOP Membership Services Administrator, Chris Mackins

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The AOP Sustainability Working Group is tasked with demystifying sustainability within photography and short-form moving image production and providing clear strategies for all professional image-makers to use in the urgent pursuit of a net-zero carbon future.

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1. Use less power

2. Buy high-quality and durable equipment

3. Avoid wrecking nature

4. Follow the rules

5. Use rechargeable batteries

6. Buy eco-friendly supplies:

Printing paper, ink, lens solution, cotton camera bags, waist belts made from recycled plastic or plant based materials, camera straps made from old seat belts ....

7. Only print what you need

8. Take eco-friendly photos

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1. Use less power

Photographers are a bit like Inspector Gadget. They have an electronic device up every sleeve. And all of those devices have something in common. They use lots of power.

The simplest way to immediately reduce your impact on the planet is to save power. Turn devices off. This includes your camera, laptop, printer, scanner and whatever other gadgets you've got in the back of your car.

When recharging your devices, make sure you don't leave them on for hours after they're charged. 'Phantom electricity' is a significant contributor to energy waste and also hits your wallet hard.

2. Buy high-quality and durable equipment

OK, so we're not all fancy pants photographers who can lay down £4k on a lens. But we can all shop a little smarter.

Next time you're in the market for new equipment, do your research. Find out what are the most durable pieces of gear for your budget. All your equipment takes a toll on the environment when being produced.

The less you have to buy in the future, the greener your gear and the less money you will have to spend each time.

Another idea is to buy pre-owned gear. Take advantage of 'all the gear, no idea' photographers who upgrade their equipment every single year. There are bargains to be found!

3. Avoid wrecking nature

'If I could just chop those ten trees down, I would have a perfect shot!' Sound like you? Probably not, that's a bit extreme.

But some photographers do have a habit of breaking branches and wrecking bushes to get the perfect shot. It's tempting, but you should resist. Each time you do this, you leave a scar on the natural area. Be kind to nature.

Another common issue is waste. Bring your own reusable bottles of water or hot drinks when you shoot. And if not possible, don't leave it behind you in the natural environment. Take all rubbish home to dispose of it properly or even better recycle!

4. Follow the rules

This is an important one and one that most of us are guilty of breaking if there is a shortcut.

If you're in an area of natural beauty such as a national forest or park, please follow the rules. Try not to disturb the natural ecosystem and avoid flash photography.

Even if the rules don't quite make sense to you, follow them anyway. There's almost always a reason, even if it doesn't immediately seem apparent.

5. Use rechargeable batteries

Disposable batteries are a nightmare for the environment. Once they end up in landfill, they release toxic chemicals such as mercury, lead and cadmium into the environment.

What's excellent about rechargeable batteries is that they last for an extraordinarily long time. And they're also easily recyclable. This means you will be sending far fewer batteries to landfill than if you continue to use disposable batteries.

At first, rechargeable batteries might seem a bit pricey. But once you consider the lifespan and the number of cheaper disposables you would need during that same period of time, rechargeables will save you a small fortune.

6. Buy eco-friendly supplies

Like we mentioned at the start, nowadays there's an eco-friendly version of anything and the photography industry is no exception.

Printing paper, ink, lens solution, cotton camera bags, waist belts made from recycled plastic or plant based materials, camera straps made from old seat belts ... the list just goes on and on.

Next time you need some new photography supplies or gear, check out what eco-friendly options are available.

7. Only print what you need

Spending that little bit of extra time choosing the best photos for print goes a long way in reducing your impact on the planet.

Try to be as conservative as possible and avoid unnecessarily printing photos, especially automatic doubles.

You can even consider using eco-friendly prints using eco-friendly, part or fully recycled paper and non-toxic plantbased inks, making your print much more environmentally friendly.

8. Take eco-friendly photos

One of our favourite ways to be environmentally friendly photographers is to take photos that reflect our values and concerns surrounding the environment.

As we all know, images are powerful tools when it comes to making a change in this world. Every great social justice movement or environmental campaign has iconic photography to back it up and raise awareness.

So, why not try to communicate your personal message about the environment through your photography? What better way to raise awareness than through the work you love? And if you do decide to take this route, please share your photos with MAD Ideas!

Final eco-friendly thoughts

Photography is a beautiful communication tool. And with the latest advancements in technology, it's never been easier to be an eco-friendly photographer. We hope this article has inspired you to think more about the environment when you're on your next shoot.

And if you need some eco-friendly photography for your business, do get in touch with the MAD Ideas crew today.

Image: Tiny bee in pollen paradise (A. Eaton)

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8 tips on how to be an eco-friendly photographer | MAD Ideas

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Here are 8 simple ways to help you be more eco-friendly on your next shoot. It’s not just what you do, but it’s also what you use.

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Four pillars of sustainability, also known as the four dimensions or quadruple bottom line, are the following:

1. Environmental sustainability: This pillar focuses on the natural world, including the air, water, land, and biodiversity. It involves protecting natural resources, reducing waste and pollution, and promoting renewable energy sources.

2. Economic sustainability: This pillar focuses on the economy, including issues related to business and industry. It involves creating a healthy economy that provides jobs, supports innovation, and promotes sustainable practices that do not harm the environment or society.

3. Social sustainability: This pillar focuses on people and society, including issues related to social justice, equity, and human rights. It involves ensuring that basic needs are met, such as access to healthcare, education, and housing, and promoting inclusive and diverse communities.

4. Cultural sustainability: This pillar focuses on cultural diversity and heritage, including issues related to preserving cultural traditions and promoting cultural exchange. It involves valuing and respecting different cultures and working to ensure that they are not lost or marginalized.

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The term "sustainability" seems to have become another buzzword. Not just in the wedding industry, but in general. But what does sustainability, and running a sustainable photography business actually mean?

When we talk about sustainability as photographers in the wedding industry, we often focus on the topic of environmental sustainability (many photographers are aware of Leave No Trace now), and perhaps the idea of promoting more sustainable options to clients for their weddings (such as seasonal flowers or served food instead of a buffet to reduce waste). But sustainability is a super complex topic that covers many different areas.

Sustainability is like a game of Jenga, where you're trying to build a tall and stable tower without letting any blocks fall down. In the game of sustainability, the blocks represent different aspects of our world, such as the environment, society, and the economy. To play the game successfully, we need to make sure that we're not taking away too many blocks from any one aspect, or the tower will collapse. Instead, we need to find a balance between all the different blocks, so that the tower can stand tall and stable for a long time. In other words, sustainability is about finding ways to live and work that don't harm the environment, society, other cultures or the economy, but instead support them in a balanced and harmonious way.

Sustainability is just as important for us as small business owners as it is for the wider world. By adopting sustainable practices, we, as photographers, can not only reduce our environmental impact, but also improve our reputations, attract more customers, and increase our profits in the long run.

4 Pillars of Sustainability

I was first introduced to the Four Pillars Of Sustainability during my hiking guide training. We spent a day exploring the different areas of sustainability, and how they related to us as outdoor guides. So much of what I learned was also super relevant to the world of wedding and elopement photography too, especially when thinking about destination weddings and elopements.

The four pillars of sustainability, also known as the four dimensions or quadruple bottom line, are the following:

1. Environmental sustainability: This pillar focuses on the natural world, including the air, water, land, and biodiversity. It involves protecting natural resources, reducing waste and pollution, and promoting renewable energy sources.

2. Economic sustainability: This pillar focuses on the economy, including issues related to business and industry. It involves creating a healthy economy that provides jobs, supports innovation, and promotes sustainable practices that do not harm the environment or society.

3. Social sustainability: This pillar focuses on people and society, including issues related to social justice, equity, and human rights. It involves ensuring that basic needs are met, such as access to healthcare, education, and housing, and promoting inclusive and diverse communities.

4. Cultural sustainability: This pillar focuses on cultural diversity and heritage, including issues related to preserving cultural traditions and promoting cultural exchange. It involves valuing and respecting different cultures and working to ensure that they are not lost or marginalized.

Together, these four pillars form a framework for sustainable development, which seeks to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of others, including future generations to meet their own needs.

This blog post delves into each of these sustainability pillars - environmental, economic, social, and cultural - providing you with valuable insights into how they relate to your business. Uncover the rewards and tactics linked to each sustainability component, granting you the information required for forming a more sustainable business approach that sustains long-term success while respecting our planet's natural resources.

Prepare yourself for an enlightening journey through the intricacies of sustainability explained within the context of photography. You'll discover practical tips on integrating greener technologies, fostering social capital by supporting local charities or initiatives, and embracing cultural aspects in your work - all aimed at achieving that ultimate goal: creating a truly sustainable business that thrives now and for generations to come.

Pillar 1 - Environmental Sustainability

Comprehending the idea of environmental sustainability is essential for photographers who desire to have a positive influence on the environment while managing their business. In this part, we'll go over the significance of eco-sustainability for wedding snappers, analyze its advantages and furnish techniques to incorporate it into your photographic business.

Definition of Environmental Sustainability

Environmental sustainability refers to responsible resource use that meets present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet their own needs. For photographers, this means adopting practices that minimize waste and pollution while conserving energy and natural resources.

Why Is Environmental Sustainability Important?

Reduce your impact on the planet: Our planet is under huge strain and every small step we can take, both as individuals and businesses to reduce our impact on the natural environment can help.

Eco-friendly image: Embracing environmentally sustainable practices can enhance your brand's reputation among eco-conscious clients who value businesses with a green ethos.

Cutting costs: Implementing energy-efficient measures or reducing waste can lead to long-term cost savings in terms of lower utility bills and reduced material expenses.

Innovation: Adopting sustainable solutions may encourage you to think creatively about how you run your business, leading to new ideas and innovations that set you apart from competitors.

Better working environment: A greener workspace can improve your well-being by providing cleaner air quality or more natural light through energy-efficient windows.

Strategies for Implementing Environmental Sustainability in a Photography Business

1. Digital workflows: Migrating towards digital contracts, invoices, proofs instead of paper-based methods reduces waste production significantly. Digital workflows also streamline your business processes, making them more efficient.

2. Practicing Leave No Trace: Many photographers now understand the principles of Leave No Trace, but there are still many who don't. Always consider your actions and the impacts they might have on the environments and communities you visit.

Incorporating environmental sustainability into your photography business not only benefits the planet but can also lead to cost savings and a unique selling point that sets you apart from competitors. By understanding its importance and implementing strategies like adopting digital workflows, choosing eco-friendly equipment, opting for green travel options, and using sustainable packaging materials - you'll be well on your way toward running a greener photography business.

Considering environmental factors is essential for a thriving photography venture, as it can lead to cost savings and increased earnings. Economic sustainability is the next pillar of sustainability that should be explored in order to ensure long-term success for any photographer's business.

Pillar 2 - Economic Sustainability

Economic sustainability is a crucial aspect of running a successful photography business. In this section, we will explore the concept of economic sustainability, its benefits for wedding photographers, and strategies to implement it in your photography business.

Definition of Economic Sustainability

Economic sustainability refers to the ability of a business or an economy to maintain growth and profitability over time without compromising future resources or opportunities. Photographers can promote economic sustainability by operating their businesses in a financially responsible manner.

Why Is Economic Sustainability Important?

Financial Stability: By adopting economically sustainable practices in your photography business, you can ensure steady income streams that allow you to invest back into your business while also securing your financial future.

Creating Income For Others: As your business grows, you may choose to hire a team or outsource, creating income for others.

Paying Taxes: Nobody likes paying taxes, but taxes support education, healthcare, and infrastructure, and help to contribute to the overall economic growth of society.

In short, economic sustainability is important because it helps to create a stable and prosperous business environment that benefits individuals, communities, and the environment in the long run.

Strategies for Implementing Economic Sustainability in a Photography Business

1. Create Multiple Revenue Streams: Diversify your income sources by offering additional services.

2. Pricing for Profit: Know your numbers and make sure your business is profitable. Refrain from offering discounts or undercutting the market.

3. Support other local and sustainable businesses: Photographers can support sustainability by working with eco-friendly vendors, through referrals or promoting local, sustainable businesses on their website and social media channels.

Incorporating economic sustainability into your photography business not only helps secure its long-term success but also contributes positively towards a more sustainable future for everyone involved. By utilizing these approaches, you can form a financially sustainable structure that is advantageous for both yourself and the environment.

By implementing economic sustainability, wedding photographers can ensure their businesses are financially sound and profitable. Next, we will discuss the importance of social sustainability for professional wedding photographers.

Pillar 3 - Social Sustainability

The social aspect of sustainability, which is one of the four pillars, emphasizes the importance of peace, enhancing social connections, inclusivity, and equality.

Definition of Social Sustainability

Social sustainability refers to creating and maintaining healthy relationships within society while promoting well-being, equity, diversity, and justice. In the context of wedding photography businesses, this means fostering positive connections with clients, employees or contractors (if any), suppliers/vendors as well as other industry professionals.

Why is Social Sustainability Important?

Better client relationships: By being socially responsible and engaging with clients on a deeper level beyond just providing services, you can build trust that leads to stronger client loyalty and referrals.

Inclusive work environment: Embracing diversity among team members not only promotes creativity but also helps create an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued - which can lead to increased productivity.

Ethical practices: Adhering to ethical standards in all aspects - from pricing policies to treatment of staff - ensures long-term success by establishing credibility within the industry.

Promoting local communities: Collaborating with local vendors supports small businesses in your community while building valuable professional networks that can benefit both parties involved.

Strategies for Implementing Social Sustainability in a Photography Business

1. Prioritize diversity and inclusion: Be conscious about hiring diverse team members, collaborating with vendors from different backgrounds, showcasing diversity in your portfolio and using inclusive language. This can help attract clients who value inclusivity. When creating shoots with models from underrepresented groups, avoid tokenizing, and pay them a fair wage for their work.

2. Building a local community: Partnering with local vendors not only supports your community but also helps create a network of professionals that may lead to future collaborations or referrals. Attend networking events or join online forums dedicated to wedding professionals or creative service businesses within your area as an effective way of building connections.

Incorporating social sustainability into your photography business will not only strengthen relationships within the industry but also contribute positively to society at large - ultimately leading to long-term success and growth for both you and those around you.

Pillar 4 - Cultural Sustainability

Finally, let's take a look at cultural sustainability, another important pillar in creating a more sustainable business and future.

Definition of Cultural Sustainability

Cultural sustainability is an essential aspect that ensures the preservation and promotion of cultural values, traditions, heritage, diversity, creativity, and identity within communities. It plays a vital role in maintaining social cohesion while contributing to sustainable development. In the context of wedding photography businesses, cultural sustainability involves respecting diverse customs and practices during weddings while capturing unique moments that reflect each couple's culture.

Why Is Cultural Sustainability Important?

Inclusivity: By embracing cultural sustainability principles in your photography business operations, you create an inclusive environment where clients from various backgrounds feel respected and valued. This approach can help attract more customers seeking culturally sensitive services.

Differentiation: Incorporating cultural sensitivity into your work helps set you apart from competitors who may not prioritize this aspect. Showcasing a diverse portfolio with images reflecting different cultures demonstrates your commitment to promoting inclusivity through your artistry.

Social Capital: Building strong relationships with clients by understanding their needs related to their culture contributes positively towards building social capital - which ultimately enhances reputation as well as customer loyalty among future generations.

Growth Opportunities: Embracing different cultures provides opportunities for growth by expanding your clientele base across various demographics or geographical locations interested in preserving their rich heritage through photographs captured at weddings or other significant events.

Strategies for Implementing Cultural Sustainability in a Photography Business

1. Educate Yourself: Learn about the customs, traditions, and practices of different cultures to better understand their significance. Attend workshops or seminars on cultural sensitivity or engage with experts from diverse backgrounds to broaden your knowledge.

2. Collaborate with Local Communities: Whether at home or with destination weddings, partner with local community organizations that promote cultural preservation and awareness. By supporting these initiatives, you contribute towards fostering cultural sustainability while also gaining insights into various communities' values and beliefs.

3. Showcase Diversity in Your Portfolio: Ensure your portfolio reflects the diversity of clients you have worked with by including images capturing unique aspects of each culture represented. This not only demonstrates your commitment to promoting inclusivity but also helps potential clients visualize how their own wedding might be captured through your lens.

4. Promote Cultural Sensitivity within Your Team: Encourage team members to adopt culturally sensitive practices during weddings by providing training opportunities focused on understanding different customs and traditions as well as respecting privacy concerns related to specific rituals.

Incorporating cultural sustainability into your photography business model is essential for creating an inclusive environment where all clients feel respected and valued. By implementing strategies like educating yourself about diverse cultures, collaborating with local communities, promoting cultural preservation, and showcasing diversity in portfolios, photographers can ensure they are playing their part in preserving our world's rich heritage for future generations.

Conclusion

As you can see, sustainability is a multi-layered approach. By incorporating sustainable practices into your business operations, photographers can not only help create a more sustainable world but also improve the health and longevity of your own businesses.

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Understanding Sustainability - A Guide For Photographers - Adventure Wedding Academy

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The term "sustainability" seems to have become another buzzword. Not just in the wedding industry, but in general. But what does sustainability, and running a sustainable photography business actually mean? When we talk about sustainability as photographers in the wedding industry, we often focus on the topic of environmental sustainability...

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Sustainability Photographer of the Year 2021: the winners

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This year’s competition received over 115 fascinating photos from 55 participants, both staff and students, making the choice particularly difficult.

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Sustainability Photographer of the Year 2023: the winners

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We were very happy to announce our winners at the Vice-Chancellor's Environmental Sustainability Awards on 20 June.

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MB: Thanks for having me! Back when I was studying Economics at the University of Warwick, I would buy and sell cameras on eBay to help fund my studies. I've always been a keen photographer, and I'd learnt everything there is to know about kit, as well as about identifying the market value of any given camera or lens.

At the time, there wasn't really anywhere for photographers to buy cameras in an affordable way-at least not cameras that they could rely on. It's hugely important for photographers to be able to trust their equipment.

In 2011, I founded MPB to open up access to photography and videography equipment in a more affordable, more secure, and more sustainable way. I honestly believe that used is better than new. Every photographer has a budget and being smart with your purchases is really important. Instead of buying a brand-new camera, you can choose the same model used and get the same performance-and still have money left for a few lenses too.
You have both channelled your concerns about the environmental impact of photography into important projects that hold the value of sustainability at the centre (Hannah, with The Sustainable Darkroom, and Matt with MPB). Could you tell us more about your respective visions for these projects and what they aim to achieve in the present, as well as in the future?
HF: The Sustainable Darkroom relies on funding both from grants for our research and development residencies and from our Patreon supporters for talks, workshops, general operations, and more. We aim to support practitioners in developing their own more environmentally-friendly practices through various outlets including-but not limited to-research and development, teaching, giving talks, running residencies, and producing publications. The initiative is now run by three of us: me, Ed Carr, and Alice Cazenave. It was a lot of pressure running the organisation on my own, so I am unbelievably happy to have this amazing team alongside me now.

Ed runs our physical space, Northern Sustainable Darkroom, located in Leeds. This is where we have built our Photographic Garden, part of our current research and development residency, which is funded by the Genesis Foundation Kick Starter Fund. We are supporting 12 artists between September 2021-September 2022 to carry out research projects that investigate ways in which a garden can operate in conjunction with a darkroom. We are looking into plant-based alternatives to cyanotype chemistries, water filtration systems, plant-based RBG filters to use on photographic film, and so much more.

This month, we are launching a window gallery space in Leeds called Hot Compost. This will be a space where we show research and work developed with The Sustainable Darkroom. For the first year, it will exclusively show the research, work, and ideas being developed by the Photographic Garden artists in residence.

What else are we busying away at? I am in the process of building a solar-powered website for the organisation. Alice is teaching a number of workshops at schools and universities across the UK as well as planning some talks.

Looking forward, we plan to continue expanding our network of individuals and organisations involved in the initiative and to continue building our research and resources.

MB: The MPB platform has sustainability at its core. Our circular model keeps more products and materials in use across creative industries, supporting the shift by consumers and industries towards sustainability. Every year, MPB recirculates more than three hundred thousand cameras, lenses and accessories. We make it easy for photographers and videographers to access great kit in a sustainable way and without compromising on quality or performance.

We always strive to make MPB better and better for the environment. When photographers sell us their kit, the packaging is recycled. And when they buy used, their kit arrives in MPB packaging-all of which is 100% recycled, recyclable and plastic-free, while being safely packed to protect the kit inside. This is our second year of partnering with One Tree Planted to plant a tree for every item of used kit that consumers buy, sell, or trade in during the November shopping holidays. We want to continue to deepen the impact of making more sustainable consumer choices. Joining us in a couple of weeks is our Head of Sustainability, who will oversee and roll-out initiatives to further improve our positive impact on the planet. I'm proud of our green credentials, and I'm looking forward to developing them further.
Since we're in an era of profound ecological crisis that is causing so much suffering around the world (especially in the global South), we're devoting this issue of Photography+ to better understanding the place of the photographer in confronting and documenting this crisis. In addition to creating sustainable darkroom practices and transforming the way we make and buy kit, do you have ideas on how photographers can contribute to our collective efforts to intervene in the climate crisis and heal the suffering it's caused?
HF: We are already in a climate crisis and a lot of damage has already been done, though it is not visible or tangible for a large proportion of the population. The photographic industry still has a very long way to go in reducing its impact. Across all creative fields, we have a tendency to allow our goals and visions to take precedence over concerns about materiality or waste disposal. As the saying goes "Art knows no boundaries"; however, to operate in this so-called boundless existence is not sustainable when we live on a planet that has limitations and boundaries. I want to be able to continue working within this medium and for future generations to have to opportunity to do so too.

I encourage both you as organisations and individuals to evaluate the way that you operate and to unpick your own practice. Think about the tools, materials, and resources that are essential to the way you operate and then consider their origins, impact, waste products, energy usage, etc. For example, if you store all of your work on a cloud, begin asking yourself: do you know where that data storage space physically exists in the world? Do you know how much energy is required to maintain it? Is it being maintained and powered by renewable energy? Do you know what impact it is having on the local community? Have you weighed up alternative storage solutions?

A lot of our changes start by asking questions. Don't underestimate the power of your voice.

MB: Photography has an immense power to make change. We recently commissioned a survey that found, due to photography or video, two in five people in the UK have changed their perspective on climate change. And visual storytelling has even motivated one in ten UK adults to vote in an election. I think that's pretty amazing. At MPB, by making great kit accessible and affordable, we hope to enable photographers and videographers to challenge perspectives, document history, and inspire change.

I would suggest to any photographer to spend time thinking about their impact on the world around them and how, in return, the environment impacts them. Nearly half of photographers-including two-thirds of those under thirty-five-are concerned about the environmental impact of their craft and believe that reusing kit is the best way to reduce this impact.
For young people who are interested in learning more about the intersections between photography and sustainability, do you have any advice on things to read, projects to follow, or places to get involved?
HF: We have two publications which are full of resources, recipes, ideas, and questions. These can be found on londonaltphoto.com. We also have a community on Patreon, where we provide regular tips and tricks and offer monthly troubleshooting sessions to discuss anything you might be working on or struggling with. This can be found at www.patreon.com/sustainabledarkroom. We have a number of recordings available to watch on London Alternative Photography Collective's Youtube channel, which explore the practices of different artists who have been involved in The Sustainable Darkroom in some way or another.

Aside from us, there is a Facebook page you can check out called 'Making photographic processes more sustainable,' and I also recommend the podcast Photopocene, which interviews a range of photographic artists working in the photographic/sustainability field. Finally, there are a number of other organisations in the Arts who are doing great things including Gallery Climate Coalition, Villa Villa, Ki Culture, and Art/Switch.

MB: In terms of staying creative, just broaden your horizons and keep it simple. Look at the work of different photographers-as many as possible-then go out and keep taking as many photos as you can. Take inspiration, stay aware of the issues, and always push yourself to create more.

This year, we partnered with EyeEm to launch 'The Environmentalist' category at the EyeEm Awards. With more than 45,000 entries, we were thrilled with the quality and depth of the photographs. MPB had a seat on the jury, and we particularly appreciated the work of Jeremy John, Saiful Islam and Ryhor Bruyeu, so I would check out their amazing work! Follow @mpbcom on social media to learn more about our forthcoming competitions-we have plenty more in store.

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Photography for the Future: Hannah Fletcher and Matt Barker on Sustainable Practices and Why Photography Matters | Photoworks

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For this issue of Photography+, we reached out to people whose work helps us rethink our photographic practices-how we change the way we produce and buy equipment, process photographs, build artistic communities, and confront the climate crisis as photographers. Hannah Fletcher is a London-based artist, working with camera-less photographic processes.

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Digital photography image format impacts

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Digital photography image format impacts

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Digital images consist of pixels, which are samples of the intensities of red, green and blue at a particular spatial position in the image - these are typically organized in a rectangular grid. The first image formats were uncompressed: samples were represented with a specific precision, typically 8 bit, and an image file was simply a long list of sample values. An uncompressed image with 8-bit precision for R, G and B takes three bytes per pixel, so 3 MB per megapixel. One way to reduce the size is by reducing the precision: for example using 5 bits for red and blue and 6 bits for green would reduce it to 2 MB per megapixel, or using a palette of only 256 colors in total allows representing a pixel in a single byte, reducing the size to 1 MB per megapixel. Still, uncompressed images are quite large.

JPEG dramatically changed this by introducing the concept of lossy compression. It takes 8x8 blocks of pixels, applies some mathematical sorcery, and represents the block in a way that ends up requiring only a few bits per pixel, as opposed to 24. In the process, information is lost, but in a way that visually makes little difference. When done right, lossy compression can produce images that are indistinguishable from the uncompressed image, in only a tenth of the byte size. This made it possible not only to store more photos, but also to share them more easily over the Internet.

Lossy compression comes with a 'knob' to adjust the trade-off between quality and file size. Of course, when taken too far, lossy compression does lead to visible compression artifacts. We are all familiar with the 'blocky' look of a low-quality JPEG image. Lossy compression also leads to generation loss, similar to what happens when repeatedly making photocopies of photocopies: artifacts accumulate and the quality degrades when repeatedly applying lossy compression, even when using relatively high quality settings.

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History and environmental impact of digital image formats | unthinking.photography

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Per photo, digital photography is undeniably more eco-friendly than analogue film photography. However, we make orders of magnitude more photos now than in the analogue times. This article discusses the history of digital image formats and their ecological footprint.

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Urth Magazine: Is Analogue or Digital Photography More Eco Friendly?

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Urth Magazine: Is Analogue or Digital Photography More Eco Friendly?

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From a planet-friendly perspective, is analogue or digital photography better? Analogue photography has seen a resurgence in popularity and although film stocks are still being discontinued, others are being re-released, so it certainly isn't going away anytime soon.

In all things we do when working, creating art or pursuing a hobby, we try and be as environmentally mindful as possible so we decided to take a look at the environmental by-products of shooting digital versus analogue.

Film Processing

It actually depends, as there are different issues to consider that affect both types of photography differently. Film processing is one of them. Analogue photography involves developing rolls of films. This alone gives the environment a bit of a battering. Film photos are developed with the help of several chemicals. Many of these (especially silver ions) are toxic. Processors then rinse these chemicals away with water. There's also the question of chemical disposal to consider. Film processing companies are obliged to discard of chemicals responsibly, but it doesn't always happen. Often, toxic chemical waste ends up down the drains and polluting our waterways.

But, if you're still keen on analogue photography, there's a new breed of eco- friendly darkroom chemicals around. So, it might be worth looking into these and giving them a try.

Printing

With a roll of film, you can't always pick and choose which photos you want to print out. How many times have you printed out a roll of film and only kept a handful of the photos? So, in this respect, there's a fair bit of paper and print waste involved. Packaging materials, empty film canisters and used negatives are also waste by-products of analogue photography. Instead of printing every photo at the same time you get your roll developed, choose your selects and get only those printed, or get a contact sheet only, a larger size print with thumbnails of every frame to choose from.

Film processing is less of an environmental burden if you own a digital camera, because well, there's no film. Most people save andstore their photos online and only print out what they really need, thus saving paper and reducing chemical waste. In fact, Sweden's Stockholm Water Authority noted that silver pollution had halved in the city's sewers over a five-year period, citing the increase in digital photography as a major factor. While analogue photography lets itself down in the film processing area, digital's green weakness is in its manufacturing.

Manufacturing

Does this mean that when it comes to the environmental credentials of analogue or digital photography, digital is a clear-cut winner? Not necessarily. While analogue photography lets itself down in the film processing area, digital's green weakness is in its manufacturing.

Digital cameras consist of many electronic components, some of which are produced using toxic substances. Precious metals are mined to create the cameras, lead is used for the microchips and semiconductors are environmentally hazardous to produce.

But, it's not all doom and gloom. Many camera brands recognise the importance of making their manufacturing processes greener. For instance, Sony, Samsung and Nikon are phasing out the use of toxic chemicals used in the production of their cameras. Canon is no longer using lead components and has even created a camera made from components of old mobile phones.

Digital cameras also gobble up batteries much more than film cameras, especially if you use the flash a lot. Unless you religiously stick to rechargeable types, these will end up in the landfill.

Disposal

There's also the issue of camera disposal to consider in analogue or digital photography. Many film cameras enjoy a longer lifespan than their digital peers. In fact, lots of photographers prefer using vintage cameras and traditional techniques of photo production, to keep this art form alive. In this sense, there's more upcycling potential with analogue camera gear.

As digital cameras have become more ubiquitous, they've become a throw-away item. If the camera stops working, it's often cheaper to buy a new one than get it fixed. If you get five years out of your digital camera, you're lucky. Even if your digital camera still works after this time, the technology used to support it may become obsolete. Upgrading to a new model would probably be your easiest option.

Yet, digital cameras are especially tricky to recycle at the end of their life as they contain many materials. This often means it's a one-way ticket to the landfill site. Disposed camera electronics can also leach harmful chemicals, such as lead and mercury, into our waterways. However, there are many ways that you can dispose of your old digital camera in an eco-friendly way.

Doing your bit for the planet

Whether analogue or digital photography is more environmentally friendly is certainly open to debate. But, as a photographer, whether you shoot digitally or use film, you can take a green stance, whatever your choice.

If you're in the analogue camp, be mindful of how much you print out. Choose printing methods or processing centres that have a responsible approach to disposing of their chemical waste.

If you're a digital aficionado, rechargeable batteries for the flash are a must-have. Buy good quality camera gear and filters that offer decent longevity, and keep them protected to improve their shelf-life. Get a lens adapter so you can make use of old lenses instead of disposing of them when you upgrade your camera.

Opt for camera gear brands that take environmental concerns seriously, so you can snap away with a clear conscience. On a broader level, travel and take photos with the environment in mind. Reduce, reuse and recycle is a great mantra to follow, and helps to keep that all-important footprint to a minimum.

Did you know Urth makes camera gear that reforests the world? Five trees are planted in deforested areas for every product purchased. Shop our range of lens filters, lens adapters and camera accessories.

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Is Analogue or Digital Photography More Eco Friendly?

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Explore the eco-impact of analog vs. digital photography. Learn sustainable practices for both mediums. Align your passion with eco-responsibility.

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Canon Sustainability Policy and Action Plan

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Canon Sustainability Policy and Action Plan

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Video text by George the Poet

See Canon Global Sustainability Policy

Approach to Sustainability

Since 1988, Canon has been striving to uphold our corporate philosophy of Kyosei (living and working together for the common good) in order to contribute to worldwide prosperity and happiness.

A society in which all people live and work together, respecting one another and coexisting happily, regardless of culture, customs, language, ethnicity, or region. And a society in harmony with nature, able to preserve Earth’s abundant resources for future generations.

To realize such a society, Canon will create new value through the power of technology and innovation, providing world-first technologies and world-leading products and services while also contributing to solutions for the problems our society faces. By providing greater value while using fewer resources throughout all product lifecycles, we aim to enable affluent lifestyles while protecting the environment.

Through our corporate activities, Canon proactively works toward realizing a sustainable society.

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We are transforming the way we operate and manufacture to shape a more sustainable world for people and for our planet.

We are also focused on being a responsible partner to our customers by helping them meet their sustainability commitments.

CO₂ Reduction

We aim to achieve carbon net zero emissions by 2050 in line with the Paris Agreement. This involves consistent action across our entire business from operations, manufacturing and transportation to product design and packaging.

We have set near term goals for 2030 and have submitted these to SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) for transparency and verification.

Circular Business

Our ambition is to become a circular business. Where every single product and material is designed, created, reused, repaired, and recycled in a closed loop.

Through innovative manufacturing we design out waste and help keep our products and materials in use for longer.

Educational and youth programmes

Young people deserve and need to have a voice in shaping the future of our world.

We empower young people to share their story through imaging in collaboration with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and with the support of our Canon Ambassadors as programme delivery partners.

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Discover more about our sustainable development initiatives at Canon. At Canon, we recognise the utmost importance of a healthy global environment and its importance for future generations.

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Speed like never before
The EOS R5 lets you photograph fleeting moments like never before, capturing 45 megapixel full-frame images at an astonishing 20 frames per second, in complete silence and with full AE and AF tracking.

Whether you shoot sports, reportage, wildlife or portraiture, the EOS R5 gives you more chances to capture a perfect moment in time. And when you need to use a mechanical shutter, continuous shooting is available at a blistering 12fps: a class-leading performance for a full-frame mirrorless camera.

State-of-the-art electronic viewfinder
The EOS R5 features an electronic viewfinder that's so advanced it seems like there is nothing between you and the subject you're photographing. With 5.76 million dot resolution, 100 per cent coverage and a 120fps refresh rate you'll feel totally immersed in the scene while also previewing exactly what images will look like when you shoot.

The EVF is complimented by a 3.15 inch, 2.1 million dot Vari-angle touchscreen that pivots away from the camera body and can be rotated through 270˚ for comfortable shooting from difficult angles. The screen can also be rotated and stored against the camera body for protection.

A sensor on the rear of the EOS R5 switches between EVF and screen automatically as the camera is lifted to your eye and can be configured differently depending whether the screen is folded out or not.

The EOS R5 can also be programmed to have the LCD backlight turned off so users can turn off the LCD screen and use the EVF instead, reviewing images on the larger LCD display. This is an operation familiar to all DSLR users.

DIGIC X Image Processor
The EOS R5's phenomenal continuous shooting speed, outstanding image quality and class-leading autofocus are all controlled by a DIGIC X processor, which also powers the camera's other functions and ensures fast responsive handling.

Dual card slots with CFexpress
The EOS R5 features dual memory card slots: one for universally compatible SD cards (with support for high-speed UHS-II type SD media); and a second slot for ultrafast CFexpress cards, which provide the incredible speed needed for sustained 20fps bursts for up to 180 RAW files and some of the EOS R5's higher resolution video formats.

As the camera is highly customisable, so are the way the cards can be used. It's possible set up a camera and save camera settings to one of the memory cards. This enables you to share the settings with a friend or, if you have two cameras, to copy them to both cameras. This feature is also useful when sending the camera to be serviced - you can reload all your settings on its return.

Higher capacity battery
The EOS R5 is powered by an advanced LP-E6NH battery, which adds 20 per cent more capacity than older LP-E6N batteries, letting you capture 490 shots on a single charge under strict testing conditions* - and significantly more in real world shooting conditions.

LP-E6NH batteries can be charged using the supplied battery charger or in-camera via USB C 3.1, with 5V/1.5A power delivery (PD) capabilities. The BG-R10 battery grip is also available, which can accommodate two batteries at once for extended shooting times.

Older LP-E6 and LP-E6N batteries are compatible with the EOS R5, although the very fastest shooting rates and in-camera charging are not available when using the LP-E6.

* According to CIPA standards at 23˚C using the LCD in power-saving mode

Professional build quality
The EOS R5 is constructed around a magnesium alloy body that's built to withstand the rigours of professional use. Protective sealing guards against dust and moisture and lets you keep shooting with confidence no matter what the weather throws at you.

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Canon EOS R5 is built for speed, reliability and productivity. Capture pictures that were simply impossible before.

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The Natural Line has a special place in the Hahnemühle Digital FineArt Collection. It focuses on FineArt inkjet papers made from unique raw materials: bamboo, hemp, agave and sugar cane. The plants that provide the cellulose require minimal maintenance, grow quickly and don’t need any pesticides. Their rapid growth means that more cellulose can be produced on the same cropland than with other raw materials, and they also require much less water, helping to save valuable resources and protect the environment.

The new FineArt inkjet papers from the Natural Line are the next step in our continuous pursuit of sustainability and careful use of our resources.

The Natural Line complements the Digital FineArt Collection with special fine art inkjet papers made from unique raw materials and supports under the Green Rooster initiative environmental projects on regional and international level.

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Fine Art Inkjet Paper | Natural Line | Hahnemühle UK

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Purchase a sample pack of the Digital FineArt Collection Natural line. An ideal way to discover and choose the paper quality that is best for you.

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How sustainable is my printer? Canon Inkjet Inks

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How sustainable is my printer? Canon Inkjet Inks

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What's the difference between pigment and dye-based inks, or between ink and toner? Which ink is best for printing photos? Key questions about inks and printing answered.

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What can I change in Physical Exhibitions? 

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What can I change in Physical Exhibitions? 

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Physical venue

Offer environmentally friendly refreshments

Give walking, cycling and public transport directions to the venue

Use recycled papers for publicity and printing

Green insurance

Use eco-friendly printing and display materials

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How Sustainable is my current digital practice?

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How Sustainable is my current digital practice?

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camera and lenses

camera battery usage

lighting and flash

computer processing power

software and AI

storage: memory and cloud services

printing: printer, inks and paper

on-line dissemination and social media

exhibition resources and process

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Plastic accompanies us everywhere in our everyday lives - even in places where we would not expect it at first glance. Did you know that all conventional photo paper is coated with plastic and therefore cannot be disposed of in the waste-paper recycling system? This is because the coating contains polyethylene (PE), and it is not possible to separate this from the paper base.

Picture the World without Plastic

Imagine a world without plastic. With our GreenGrafX Photo Paper 220 satin and GreenGrafX Photo Paper glossy (3617) , you'll be a lot closer to that vision. Less plastic, more sustainability: that's our promise.

GreenGrafX Photo Papers are the first choice for sustainably brilliant photo prints because the material is Made in Germany, FSC® certified - and fully recyclable via the waste-paper cycle.

Same quality, same colour brilliance, same gloss - but much less plastic. Sounds too good to be true? Our secret is the finishing with a special barrier and the microporous coating that replaces the PE-film but retains its important properties for photo printing.

The big advantage is that it makes the GreenGrafX Photo Papers 100% recyclable via the waste-paper cycle, so that they are certified according to the PTS RH 021/97 category II method, which is common in the recycling environment.

Very good flatness, even with high ink coverage

Less sensitive to fluctuations in temperature and humidity

Optimised for water-based inks

Excellent colour reproduction and wide colour gamut

Fast drying

With GreenGrafX Photo Papers, after the photo is before the photo. That simply goes down well - with your customers and the environment. Our first fully recyclable photo paper is the only environmentally friendly alternative to PE-filmed photo papers - with brilliant print results and 100% quality. Its recyclability not only makes it sustainable and saves resources, but your customers also benefit from the easy disposal option in their waste-paper bin.

Do you have any questions about our GreenGrafX Photo Papers, or would you like to request a printed sample?

Our Customer Service is looking forward to hearing from you!

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GreenGrafX Photo Paper: 100% Quality. 100% Recyclable.

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Less plastic, more sustainability: get to know the environmentally friendly GreenGrafX Photo Paper 220 satin (3616) from Sihl.

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8 Eco-friendly, Sustainable Paper Stocks Not Made of Trees

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8 of the most common, affordable, eco-friendly and sustainable paper stock options for your next print project that are not made of trees.

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Best Papers to Ecoprint on Paper - How to ecoprint on paper

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Make a lasting impression with our sustainable picture frames, expertly crafted from eco-friendly & FSC certified materials and made in London by our professional framing team at Abstract House, the most sustainable online art gallery. Our quality picture frames offer an eco-friendly and plastic-free solution to fr

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Sustainability features

Frame Forestry practices

Made with materials from well-managed forests, recycled materials and/or other controlled wood sources.

As certified by The Forest Stewardship Council

Perspex/Glass/Acrylic???

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OTHER STUFF YOU WILL LOVE

write a review online, and we will plant
Plant A Tree

a tree for our planet

Read more here

if you change your mind, and want to send it back unopened! Love it & keep it!
100 Days Return

Read more here

we wrap our products in reused, recyclable or biodegradable packaging.
Green Packaging

Read more here

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A colourful photo frame made from strips of recycled magazine pieces and beautifully upcycled into this creative photo frame. Handmade by ethical cooperatives.

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Photo Frames - Fair Trade and Ethical Products | SHARED EARTH

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Click on “Accept all” to consent to the use of cookies for analysis and advertising purposes, “Customise” to set your choices or “Refuse all” to oppose these uses on this site at the exception of those strictly necessary.

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all of our frames are green. They are made in the UK from recycled waste products from plastic packaging and the electronics industry.

Made from recycled waste products from plastic packaging and the electronics industry
Glass front
MDF back with strut stand and hangers

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Home / Shop / Wall Art & Decor / Frames / Pablo Sustainable Landscape Portrait Picture Frame

£9.00

Now You've found your perfect print, does the thought of faffing about finding a frame fill you with dread? Don't worry, We've got you. We have a cool selection of A4 frames to choose from. Even though we have lots of colours, all of our frames are green. They are made in the UK from recycled waste products from plastic packaging and the electronics industry.

Description

Eco friendly picture frame
Available in black, silver and natural wood
Made from recycled waste products from plastic packaging and the electronics industry
Glass front
MDF back with strut stand and hangers
Hang or stand portrait or landscape
Made in the UK

Additional information

Weight

N/A

Dimensions

N/A

Colour

Black, Natural, Silver

Delivery Costs

At the moment we are sending items within the UK and Northern Ireland only. UK Standard Tracked 2 - 4 Day Delivery is free for orders over £70.

We calculate delivery costs at the checkout. We know this is annoying but we do it to give you the best price for what you have ordered as nobody likes overpaying for shipping. Please see below for a guide on what you can expect to pay if your order is below £70.

UK Standard Large Letter £2.00 (A4 prints, coasters)
UK Standard Small Parcel £3.50 (A3 prints, tea towels, candles)
UK Standard Large Parcel £5.50 (Multiple item orders below £70, plant pots, rugs, cushions)
UK Express Tracked 24hr Delivery £8.00 (Select at checkout)
For more information on shipping and delivery click here

Returns

Fuss free 30 day returns. For more information on our Refund and Returns policy, click here

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Sustainable Picture Frames A4 | interior superior

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Now You've found your perfect print, does the thought of faffing about finding a frame fill you with dread? Don't worry, We've got you. We have a cool selection of A4 frames to choose from. Even though we have lots of colours, all of our frames are green.

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What can I change in digital dissemination? AI Images and Cloud Services

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What can I change in digital dissemination? AI Images and Cloud Services

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This is a rapidly evolving area with a lot of greenwashing. But also indications that machine learning models will rapidly become more efficient and less energy-intensive by 2030 and providers will switch to 100% corporate renewable energy. Though this will not resolve issues like water usage, energy used by users or promotion of wasteful consumption patterns by fossil fuel companies and advertisers.

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Climate neutral certification.

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SmugMug | Our commitment to sustainability.

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Photography happens on Earth, and Earth needs as many people fighting for it as possible. Here’s how we’re tackling the challenges of climate change head-on.

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Best practice: Meta Instagram and Facebook and Google You Tube

Affected by file sizes and CODECs used for upload and download as well as energy sources of users.

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What is the environmental footprint for social media applications? 2021 Edition - Greenspector

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What are the impacts of our activities on social networks? What are the most / least impacting solutions for the environment.

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The source has measured the emissions of new Instagram features during a minute of usage in France in 2020. The results show that the least impactful feature for the environment was the publication of a photo (0.154 gCO2e). According to the source, this represents the carbon equivalent of 1.3 meters made by a light vehicle per minute. The most impactful function was that of scrolling the news feed (1.549 gCO2e).

Every feature, every usage and every app leave a footprint

Environmental issues have long been raised and addressed, especially when it comes to transport and storage, as these are some of the branches emitting the most carbon. But in recent years, the pollution created by the Internet has become a trending topic. According to professionals, the production of ICT (Internet Communication Technology) devices, their usage and the storage of information on mediums such as data center storages would equal to the world's sixth largest polluting country, if it were one. Thus, determining the carbon impact and energy levels of social media usage could be a first step to fight the problem of pollution. As Instagram's popularity has increased in recent years, allowing for the adoption of new features such as Reels, Lives and Filters on Instagram Stories, it comes with no surprise that the energy consumption and therefore the carbon levels have increased.

However, Instagram was not the most polluting platform at the beginning of 2020.

Tik Tok, Reddit and Pinterest as the forerunners of carbon emissions

In terms of the environmental impact, the social network with the most impactful news feed was Tik Tok, emitting about 4.93 grams of CO2 equivalent (gCO2e) per minute. Instagram on the other hand, ranked in fifth place, emitting about 1.91 gCO2e. In the vast world of the Internet, as social media apps are used almost daily and on a mobile phone, most of them are designed to be fast. Other providers of online shopping services have proven to emit more than social networks, with most of e-commerce platforms emitting more than two grams of CO2 equivalent in 2019. Thus, the real danger posed by the invisible forces of digital technology is the underestimated environmental impact in terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions. As a current topic in the mind of businesses and consumers, a second hand market and sharing economies have gained a high amount of popularity in recent years, remedying to the declining situation, at least a bit.

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Carbon (CO2) emissions of Instagram features in France 2020 | Statista

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The source has measured the emissions of new Instagram features during a minute of usage in France in 2020. The results show that the least impactful feature for the environment was the publication of a photo (0.154 gCO2e). According to the source, this represents the carbon equivalent of 1.3 meters made by a light vehicle per minute.

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Our path to net zero

Since 2020, we have maintained net zero GHG emissions in our global operations. To get there, we reduced our operational emissions by 94% from a 2017 baseline, primarily by supporting our data centers and offices with 100% renewable energy. Our renewable energy commitments have reduced our GHG emissions by more than 12.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO ₂ e) since 2018.

But reaching net zero emissions in our operations is not enough. Meta's responsibility to decarbonize our footprint extends beyond our data centers and offices-from the server components our suppliers manufacture to our employees' commutes. To align with the Paris Agreement, we have set a goal to reach net zero emissions across our value chain in 2030.

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2023 Sustainability Report - Meta Sustainability

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We are scaling our positive impact by tracking metrics that matter. We prioritize areas where Meta can have the biggest impact on both our own operations and on the communities around us.

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US AI Environmental Sustainability Bill 2024

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US AI Environmental Sustainability Bill 2024

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includes an examination of—

(1) the energy consumption and pollution associated with the full lifecycle of artificial intelligence models, including the design, development, deployment, and use of those artificial intelligence models;

(2) the energy consumption and pollution associated with the full lifecycle of artificial intelligence hardware, including the extraction of raw materials, manufacturing, and electronic waste associated with that hardware;

(3) the energy and water consumption for the cooling of the data centers used in the design, development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence models;

(4) how choices made during the design, development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence models, including the efficiency of the artificial intelligence models used, the location, power source, and design of data centers used, and the type of hardware used, impact the resulting environmental impacts;

(5) potential environmental impacts that could be acute at local scales, which may include added power loads that create grid stress, water withdrawals that create water stress, or local noise impacts;

(6) the positive environmental impacts associated with applications of artificial intelligence, which may include optimizing systems for energy efficiency, developing renewable energy, advancing planetary systems research, enabling discovery of new materials, and automatically monitoring environmental changes;

(7) the negative environmental impacts associated with applications of artificial intelligence, which may include rebound effects, behavioral impacts, and accelerating high-pollution activities;

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Environmental impacts of AI: beyond the greenwash

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Environmental impacts of AI: beyond the greenwash

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There is a lack of transparency in reporting behind the Carbon Footprint data.

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GPU chips used in AI are noted to require more energy and cooling compared to a traditional CPU chip

The environmental impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) may vary significantly. Many deep learning methods have significant carbon footprints and water usage. Some scientists have suggested that artificial intelligence may provide solutions to environmental problems.

AI has a significant carbon footprint due to growing energy usage, especially due to training and usage. Researchers have argued that the carbon footprint of AI models during training should be considered when attempting to understand the impact of AI. One study suggested that by 2027, energy costs for AI could increase to 85-134 Twh, nearly 0.5% of all current energy usage. Training one deep learning model may use up to the same carbon footprint as the lifetime emissions of 5 cars. Training large language models (LLMs) and other generative AI generally requires much more energy compared to running a single prediction on the trained model. Using a trained model repeatedly, though, may easily multiply the energy costs of predictions. The computation required to train the most advanced AI models doubles every 3.4 months on average, leading to exponential power usage and resulting carbon footprint.

BERT, a generative AI model trained in 2019, consumed "the energy of a round-trip transcontinental flight". GPT-3 released 552 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during training, "the equivalent of 123 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year". Much of the energy cost is due to inefficient model architectures and processors. One model named BLOOM, from Hugging Face, trained with more efficient chips and, therefore, only released 25 metric tons of CO ₂. Incorporating the energy cost of manufacturing the chips for the system doubled the carbon footprint, to "the equivalent of around 60 flights between London and New York." Operating BLOOM daily was estimated to release the equivalent carbon footprint as driving 54 miles.

Algorithms which have lower energy costs but run millions of times a day can also have significant carbon footprints. The integration of AI into search engines could multiply energy costs significantly, with some estimates suggesting energy costs rising to nearly 30 billion kWh per year, an energy footprint larger than many countries. Another estimate found that integrating ChatGPT into every Google search query would use 10 tWh each year, the equivalent yearly energy usage of 1.5 million European Union residents.

AI has caused both increased water and energy usage, leading to significantly more demands on the grid. Due to increased energy demands from AI-related projects, coal-fired plants in Kansas City and West Virginia pushed back closing. Other coal-fired plants in the Salt Lake City region have pushed back retirement of their coal-fired plants by up to a decade. Environmental debates have raged in both Virginia and France about whether a "moratorium" should be called for additional data centers. In 2024 at the World Economic Forum, OpenAI executive Sam Altman gave a speech in which he said that the AI industry can only grow if there is a major technology breakthrough to increase energy development.

In 2024, Google failed to reach key goals from their net zero plan as a result of their work with AI, and had a 48% increase in greenhouse gas emission attributable to their growth in AI. Microsoft and Meta had similar increases in their carbon footprint, similarly attributed to AI. Carbon footprints of AI models depends on the energy source used, with data centers using renewable energy lowering their footprint. Many tech companies claim to offset energy usage by buying energy from renewable sources, though some experts argue that utilities simply replace the claimed renewable energy with increased non-renewable sources for their other customers. Analysis of the carbon footprint of AI models remains difficult to determine, as they are aggregated as part of datacenter carbon footprints, and some models may help reduce carbon footprints of other industries, or due to differences in reporting from companies.

Some applications of ML, such as for fossil fuel discovery and exploration, may worsen climate change. Use of AI for personalized marketing online may also lead to increased consumption of goods, which could also increase global emissions.

Energy efficiency

AI chips, (i.e. GPUs) use more energy and emit more heat than traditional CPU chips. AI models with inefficiently implemented architectures, or trained on less efficient chips may use more energy. Since the 1940's the energy efficiency of computation has doubled every 1.6 years. Some skeptics argue that improvements of AI efficiency may only increase AI usage and therefore carbon footprint due to Jevons paradox.

Cooling AI servers can demand large amounts of fresh water which is evaporated in cooling towers. By 2027, AI may use up to 6.6 billion cubic meters of water. One professor has estimated that an average session on ChatGPT, with 10-50 responses, can use up to a half-liter of fresh water. Training GPT-3 may have used 700,000 liters of water, equivalent to the water footprint of manufacturing 320 Tesla EVs.

One data center that Microsoft had considered building near Phoenix, due to increasing AI usage, was likely to consume up to 56 million gallons of fresh water each year, equivalent to the water footprints of 670 families. Microsoft may have increased water consumption by 34% due to AI, while Google increased its water usage by 20% due to AI. Due to their Iowa data center cluster, Microsoft was responsible for 6% of the freshwater use in a local town.

E-waste due to production of AI hardware may also contribute to emissions. The rapid growth of AI may also lead to faster deprecation of devices, resulting in hazardous e-waste. Some applications of AI, such as for robot recycling, may reduce e-waste.

AI has significant potential to help mitigate effects of climate change, such as through better weather predictions, disaster prevention and weather tracking. Some climate scientists have suggested that AI could be used to improve efficiencies of systems, such as renewable-energy systems. Google has claimed AI could help mitigate some effects of climate change such as predicting floods or making traffic more efficient. Some algorithms may help predict the impacts of more severe hurricanes, measure the melting of polar ice, deforestation, and help monitor emissions from sources. One machine learning project, the Open Catalyst project, has been used to identify "suitable low-cost electrocatalysts" for battery storage of renewable energy sources. AI may also improve the efficiencies of supply chains and productions for environmentally detrimental industries such as food and fast fashion.

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Environmental impacts of artificial intelligence - Wikipedia

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The environmental impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) may vary significantly. Many deep learning methods have significant carbon footprints and water usage. Some scientists have suggested that artificial intelligence may provide solutions to environmental problems. AI has a significant carbon footprint due to growing energy usage, especially due to training and usage.

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“Not every problem demands a machine learning-based solution… [Since] training is the one place which consumes a lot of computational power and hence [increases] carbon footprint, what we do [at BLP] is we minimize our training cycles. Once they are deployed in production there is no training to be done… retraining is done only once in three or six months, depending.” Reaching for solutions based on deep neural networks and deep learning architectures to solve simple problems that can be solved by other, less compute-intensive AI, is “where we are messing with the environment”.

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Need to quantify

A main problem to tackle in reducing AI's climate impact is to quantify its energy consumption and carbon emission, and to make this information transparent. Crawford and Joler wrote in their essay that the material details of the costs of large-scale AI systems are vague in the social imagination, to the extent that a layperson might think that building a machine learning (ML)-based system is a simple task. Part of the enigma lies in the absence of a standard of measurement.

Alexandre Lacoste and colleagues worked on a study to make quantifying the carbon cost of ML easier for researchers. The emissions incurred in the training of a neural network model, they found, are related to the location of the training server and the energy grid it uses, the length of the training procedure, and the hardware on which the training takes place. They developed an emissions calculator to estimate the energy use, and the concomitant environmental impact, of training ML models. Alexandra Luccioni, a collaborator on that study, says that keeping an eye on the emissions level of AI is crucial for the near future. "This is definitely something that people are working [on], be it via more efficient GPUs [graphics processing units] or by buying renewable energy credits for the carbon that was produced by neural network training. Using renewable energy grids for training neural networks is the single biggest change that can be made. It can make emissions vary by a factor of 40, between a fully renewable grid and a fully coal grid." However, to make AI less polluting, she adds, it needs to become more of a mainstream conversation, including "getting researchers to divulge how much carbon dioxide was produced by their research, to reuse models instead of training them from scratch and by using more efficient GPUs."

The actionable recommendations from the UMass team are similar - for example, the authors encourage researchers to prioritize computationally efficient hardware and algorithms, to report training time and sensitivity to hyperparameters in published performance results, and to perform a cost-benefit analysis of NLP models for comparison.

Red AI

A 2018 analysis led by Dario Amodei and Danny Hernandez of the California-based OpenAI research lab, an organization that describes its mission as ensuring that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity, revealed that the compute used in various large AI training models had been doubling every 3.4 months since 2012 - a wild deviation from Moore's Law, which puts this at 18 months - accounting for a 300,000× increase. This directly corresponds to the advances seen in the AI industry in recent years. While algorithmic innovation and data - two other factors directly related to the growth of AI - are difficult to quantify, compute isn't. But, they wrote in their blog post, the nebulousness of the exact amounts of compute can and does just as easily function as a fig leaf to hide the shortcomings of current algorithms.

Roy Schwartz and collaborators, in a position paper published in mid-2019, called this trend 'red AI', that is, 'buying' stronger results by using massive compute. For a linear gain in performance, an exponentially larger model is required, which can come in the form of increasing the amount of training data or the number of experiments, thus escalating computational costs, and therefore carbon emissions. To demonstrate the prevalence of red AI, Schwartz et al. analysed over 60 papers from top conferences and concluded that a vast majority - 90% of papers from the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics, 80% from the 2018 Conference on Neurological Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), and 75% from the 2019 Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition - prioritized accuracy over efficiency.

Their study enumerated three factors making AI research red: the cost of executing the model on a single example; the size of the training dataset, which controls the number of times the model is executed; and the number of hyperparameter experiments, which controls how many times the model is trained. The total cost of producing a result in ML, they said, increases linearly with each of these quantities. Overall, the increasing trend towards neural architecture search (NAS) and automated hyperparameter optimization (also called autoML), which are extremely heavy on compute, contribute substantially to red AI. In their paper, Schwartz and colleagues advocate for 'green AI', which they defined as "AI research that yields novel results without increasing computational cost, and ideally reducing it", opposite to red AI.

Despite all this, red AI can still be valuable. In pushing the limits of model size, dataset size and the hyperparameter search space, even if a massive amount of resources is required, this may still pay off in terms of downstream performance. Justin Burr, communications manager for Google AI, says, "Training better models can actually save more energy over time. For example, NAS can find very efficient models. Given the number of times they're used each day for inference, in less than a week they save more in energy than the old hand-tuned versions."

Into the grid

AI scientist Richard Sutton, often called the 'father of reinforcement learning', wrote a blog post in early 2019 titled 'The bitter lesson', saying that AI methods that leverage computation are better and more accurate than those that leverage human knowledge. This mindset divides the AI industry, but what is indisputable is that relying on increasing amounts of compute and data requires ever-increasing power and other infrastructure, which is directly proportional to a rising carbon footprint. For a full grasp of AI's carbon impact, it is not enough to scrutinize the compute costs incurred by training large models.

With tech companies reticent about sharing data, and having no incentives to do so, any attempt at quantifying emissions remains difficult. Roel Dobbe of the AI Now Institute at New York University says that this has led to a peculiar kind of complexity. The aggressive pace with which the computer industry has globalized and consolidated to a few players has challenged many societies' ability to retain control over critical infrastructure.

"For the computing infrastructure to be effective and efficient in terms of being able to offer compute across the globe, data centres have to be built regionally. [But with the] market mostly dominated by three American players, they are building data centres not just in their own countries, but across the world. And this has various impacts." One of these, he goes on to say, is the need for the right checks and balances, including regulations, to retain some form of local agency over these infrastructures. "These companies also invest a lot of money in alarming lobbying against regulation and other mechanisms that balance against their own power." This also raises other questions. With so few players dominating the industry, how does that impact the price of compute? What are the strategies that other players might employ who do not necessarily care about or have to adhere to more stringent requirements for their energy mix?

Companies are hesitant to share data about their energy mix. Greenpeace's Clicking Clean report from 2017 says that many companies who had committed to a 100% renewable future are more in a state of status quo than on a transformational path - in fact, despite net-zero-by-2040 pledges, Amazon's emissions increased by 15% last year. The report also points out that despite a drive towards renewable energy in significant markets, in others there has been a concomitant push for fossil-fuel-based energy. One such example is Virginia, USA, the data centre hub of the world, where only 1% of electricity comes from renewable sources. Then, there is the nexus of Big Data with Big Oil, the report says. Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Royal Dutch Shell and many others market their AI solutions to companies that work on fossil fuel extraction and use.

Estimating the carbon footprint of AI technologies, says Dobbe, should be fairly straightforward. "It's hardware that's running and we know how many operations various algorithms need to run." He compares tech to the aerospace industry, where it is quite easy to track emissions: "We know the energy efficiency of planes because there are standards and there are reports about what hardware planes use, how far and how long they fly, et cetera... We need to get to a similar point for the computing industry, not just for data centres, but also for the rest of the network infrastructure. It is mostly a matter of political will and consumer awareness to enforce similar kinds of transparency."

"I think that more tax incentives should be given for cloud providers to open data centres in places with hydro or solar energy," says Alexandra Luccioni. "For example, in Quebec, we have a very low-carbon grid that relies mostly on hydro, plus with the cold winters, the heat generated by computing centres can be used to heat homes. If companies had a big incentive to build their data centres there and not in, say, Texas, where the grid is mostly coal-fuelled, it could make a massive impact."

Switch to green

The Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency, a partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme and the Technical University of Denmark, is a research and advisory work on climate, energy and sustainable development. Gabriela Prata Dias, head of the centre, and Xiao Wang, programme officer, stress that environmental sustainability should be considered as one of the principles towards responsible development and application of AI: "It is important to note that AI is not only just a tool but a resource demander...[and] the benefits of using such technology should outweigh its drawbacks." They suggest various steps to apply cleaner AI practices. First, they say, the definition of green AI needs to be actionable for all the relevant stakeholders in the industry, rather than be an abstract concept to most technical experts. They advocate for the essential role of standards to drive green AI adoption. "Environmental standards should be developed to ensure the mitigation of environmental impacts...[and] green AI certifications could be introduced to facilitate the industry process for promoting green AI development. For the organizations and companies that are using and deploying AI technologies, practical industry framework and guidelines that support green procurement of AI technologies would support them in looking for environmentally friendly AI practices." Finally, they add, it is imperative for governments to consider the long-term impacts in setting up a regulatory frameworks and legislations in a way that would legally address transparency and sustainability in AI development.

Deepika Sandeep, an AI scientist who heads the AI and ML programme at Bharat Light & Power (BLP), a Bengaluru-based clean energy generation company, feels that judicious use of deep learning needs to be enforced. "Not every problem demands a machine learning-based solution... [Since] training is the one place which consumes a lot of computational power and hence [increases] carbon footprint, what we do [at BLP] is we minimize our training cycles. Once they are deployed in production there is no training to be done... retraining is done only once in three or six months, depending." Reaching for solutions based on deep neural networks and deep learning architectures to solve simple problems that can be solved by other, less compute-intensive AI, is "where we are messing with the environment".

Next level AI

Back in October 2019, Roel Dobbe and Meredith Whittaker, co-founder of the AI Now Institute, wrote a paper on AI and climate change where they advocated seven policy recommendations that could plot the first steps in "tech-aware climate policy, and climate-aware tech policy". These were: mandate transparency, account for the entire tech ecosystem, watch for rebound effects, make non-energy policy a standard practice, integrate tech and climate policy, curb the use of AI to extract fossil fuels, and address AI's impact on climate refugees. "In the end," says Dobbe, "a lot of what the climate fight is about is that we need solidarities, and people on the ground, across the world to making efforts to create this kind of transparency."

Perhaps Miguel Luengo-Oroz, AI strategist and chief data scientist at the United Nations Global Pulse, has the right idea - that it's time to get to the "next level", which is a bigger intersection of AI and climate science. Having attended both NeurIPS and the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) in December 2019, he noticed that the intersection between the two conferences was almost non-existent. "I don't know if anyone else was involved in both... We [spoke] about AI and sustainability at COP25, together with other new emerging technologies. And then at NeurIPS, where there were a lot of researchers, they met few climate experts... We need real experts; experts who deeply understand both sides of the game."

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Payal Dhar

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Dhar, P. The carbon impact of artificial intelligence. Nat Mach Intell 2, 423-425 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-020-0219-9
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The carbon impact of artificial intelligence - Nature Machine Intelligence

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The part that artificial intelligence plays in climate change has come under scrutiny, including from tech workers themselves who joined the global climate strike last year. Much can be done by developing tools to quantify the carbon cost of machine learning models and by switching to a sustainable artificial intelligence infrastructure.