Part 1: Introduction - the environmental impacts of digital technology

Types Title Description Links
Video Video An all-digital world See
Additional Resources Additional resources Additional resources for Part 1 "Introduction - the environmental impacts of digital technology" See
Activity 1.1 What do you think about digital services? Find out how you feel about digital technology See
Activity 1.3 How do you measure your environmental impact? Identify the indicators used to calculate the impact of digital technology / Compare the orders of magnitude See
Activity 1.4.1 Are you a victim of the exponential bias? Differentiate between linear and exponential growth See
Activity 1.4.2 What link can be made between environmental performance and Internet usage? Cross-reference the indicators (ecological footprint and percentage of internet users) of countries See
Activity Accès au PDF des activités Accès au PDF des activités de la Partie 1 See
Concept Sheet 1.2.1 What is digital technology? An overview of the terms commonly associated with digital technology, and its history. See
Concept Sheet 1.2.2 What are the Internet infrastructures? This fact article describes the main infrastructures that enable the Internet to function, and their environmental impacts. See
Concept Sheet 1.2.3 What is a datacenter? The article describes data centers, what they are made of, what are their characteristics and their environmental impacts. See
Concept Sheet 1.2.4 Numerical simulation, a central tool for the environment modelling, Numerical simulation and environment See
Concept Sheet 1.3.1 Indicators - from definition to construction What is an indicator, how is it constructed and what are the main environmental indicators? See
Concept Sheet 1.3.2 Digital technology and environment in some figures International and French figures of digital equipments, and some illustrations of equipment and digitalization rates in France. See
Concept Sheet 1.3.3 Digital technology and electricity - measurements, proportionality and energy efficiency What are the metrics used to analyze the power consumption of digital equipment in use and how to measure the power consumption of a digital equipment. See
Concept Sheet 1.3.4 Quantified results - how reliable are they ? Reliability of the figures and degree of confidence in them. Alert to figures, alert to greenwashing ! See
Concept Sheet 1.4.1 Digital technology - Concepts and definitions to maike it more ecological The sheet introduces the concepts of efficiency vs. sobriety, digital sobriety, low-tech for a responsible or eco-responsible digital. See
Concept Sheet 1.4.2 Digital ecology «Digital ecology» - how computer science and digital technology can accompany an ecological transition See
Concept Sheet 1.4.3 Calculation and estimation of the positive impacts of digital technology for the transition Calculation and estimates of the positive impacts of digital technology for the transition, possibility of a "net balance" between direct negative environmental impacts and indirect positive impacts. See
Concept Sheet 1.4.4 Mechanisms and limits of exponential growth Difference between linear and exponential growth, mechanisms and limits of exponential growth See

Part 2: Non-renewable equipments

Types Title Description Links
Video Vidéo Life and death of a smartphone See
Additional Resources Additional resources Additional resources for Part 2 "Non-renewable equipment" See
Activity 2.1 How many connected devices do you have? Be aware of the number of connected objects that surround us See
Activity 2.2 The environmental impacts of a smartphone Discover the life cycle of a smartphone and the different environmental impacts related to its 4 main phases See
Activity 2.3 Autopsy of a smartphone Be aware of the quantity of new smartphones sold, before zooming in on the metals that this small device contains See
Activity 2.4 Recycling is not enough Recycling is not enough ! See
Activity Accès au PDF des activités Accès au PDF des activités de la Partie 2 See
Concept Sheet 2.2.1 What is the environmental footprint of a terminal at different stages of its life cycle? Assessing these impacts requires taking into account the whole life cycle of the device - its production, distribution, use and end of life. See
Concept Sheet 2.2.2 Life Cycle Assessment What is a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) - principles, steps, results analysis? See
Concept Sheet 2.3.1 Which metals are in smartphones? What minerals are needed and in what quantities to make a smartphone? See
Concept Sheet 2.3.2 Why is it so difficult to make projections regarding the duration of mineral reserves? Introduction, from resources to reserves, the case of copper (Cu) See
Concept Sheet 2.3.3 Recycling overview Digital waste, WEEE management during the two main stages - collection and treatment See
Concept Sheet 2.4.1. The 5R of digital technology the 5R describe strategies for sobriety at all levels of action available to users of digital devices See
Concept Sheet 2.4.2 The rebound effect What is the rebound effect? ... and why technical improvement is not the solution See
Concept Sheet 2.4.3 What are the limits of the circular economy? Definition and limits of the circular economy See
Concept Sheet 2.4.4 How to fight against programmed obsolescence? What is programmed obsolescence, why produce more durable objects, solutions to extend the life of objects? See

Part 3: Very tangible digital services

Types Title Description Links
Video Video Are digital services virtual? See
Additional Resources Additional resources Additional resources for Part 3 "Very material digital services" See
Activity 3.1 Digital communication, where do we stand? To be aware of the mass of exchanges via communication tools See
Activity 3.2 The journey of an e-mail Se rendre compte de la matérialité des échanges See
Activity 3.3.1 What is the impact of our internet browsing? Analyze the environmental footprint of web browsing with Carbonalyser See
Activity 3.3.2 Comparing the weight of elements on a web page Sort the digital elements of a web page with the largest environmental footprint See
Activity 3.4.1 Are you an eco-responsible internet user? Discover good practices to adopt as an Internet user See
Activity 3.4.2 How to become an eco-responsible designer Discover best practices in eco-design See
Activity Accès au PDF des activités Accès au PDF des activités de la Partie 3 See
Concept Sheet 3.2.1. What is a digital service? Digital service - definition, life cycle, actors involved in the deployment. See
Concept Sheet 3.2.2. How and why do we accumulate so much data? Mutiplication of data, illustrating with the example of photography. Focus on the case of personal data See
Concept Sheet 3.3.1. Life Cycle Assessment applied to digital services Why and how to assess the environmental impact of digital services through Life Cycle Assessment. See
Concept Sheet 3.3.2. What is a web page made of? What are web pages made of and why are they getting bigger and bigger (ads, trackers...)? See
Concept Sheet 3.3.3. Measurement tools of eco-design This sheet describes some measurement tools useful for the ecodesign of digital services. See
Concept Sheet 3.4.1 Ecodesign - One of the pillars of the circular economy Ecodesign is an approach that aims to reduce the environmental impact of a product or service over its entire life cycle with a multicriteria perspective from its design phase, while maintaining its functionality and performance. See
Concept Sheet 3.4.2 Best practices for digital service ecodesign This sheet describes the main good practices to implement to eco-design an online digital service. See
Concept Sheet 3.4.3. What is an accessible digital service? Why it is essential to take into account the exclusions generated by digital services that are not accessible to people with disabilities. What are the regulations and how to improve digital accessibility? See

Part 4: Economic and Societal Impacts

Types Title Description Links
Video Vidéo Our relationship with digital technology See
Additional Resources Additional resources Additional resources for Part 4 "Economic and societal impacts" See
Activity 4.1 Connected objects and you... Be aware of the diversity of connected objects and ask yourself the question of their usefulness See
Activity 4.3 The induced effects of teleworking Realize the direct and indirect effects of telecommuting See
Activity 4.4 True or false? When 5G sets people's minds on fire! 5G: identify whether the proposed statements are true / false / or impossible to know See
Activity Accès au PDF des activités Accès au PDF des activités de la Partie 4 See
Concept Sheet 4.2.1 Sociotechnical controversies Understand what socio-technical controversies are. See
Concept Sheet 4.2.2 Decoupling - a solution to the climate crisis? The objective of this fact article is to briefly present the reasons for this debate and the scientific evidence to assess the reality and extent of the possibilities of decoupling. See
Concept Sheet 4.2.3 What is the acceleration effect? What is the acceleration effect and in particular the recent Great Acceleration? Synergy between digital transition and ecological transition. See
Concept Sheet 4.2.4. A question of attention or the reasons for an easy connection, but a difficult disconnection Functioning of attentional processes, main cognitive biases used by applications to capture our attention, effects of screen use on attentional capacities, addiction to video games See
Concept Sheet 4.4.1 The 5G, reminder of the context The fact article recalls the context of 5G and why it is difficult to estimate the environmental impacts of 5G with models that clash depending on the scope, baseline data and scenarios studied. See