My go-to example is when some EU initiatives proposed labeling mobile phones by energy use. It completely missed the forest for the trees, as a prime example of overoptimization if your goal is carbon emissions reduction.
Nearly any other daily activity of a consumer in the developed world uses orders of magnitude more energy and resources than scrolling TikTok on a phone.
Examples?
– Driving to work: commuting burns far more fuel in a week than your phone uses in a year.
– Gym sessions: heated, lit, air-conditioned spaces plus transit add up quickly.
– Gaming or watching TV: bigger screens, bigger compute easily 100x and higher power needs vs phone gaming.
– Casually cooking at home: using a metric ton of appliances (oven, stove, fridge, pans) powered like twice a week, replaced every ~10 years.
– Reading print media: a daily newspaper or weekly book involves pulp, ink, shipping, and disposal.
– Streaming on a laptop or smart TV: even this draws more power than your phone.
– Taking a shower: the hot water energy use alone dwarfs your daily phone charge.
Of couse not doing any sports or culture is also not what societies want, but energy wise a sedentary passive tiktok lifestyle is as eco friendly as it get's vs. any other real world example.
Phones are basically the least resource-intensive tool we use regularly.
Externalities, context, and limited human time effects matter a lot more than what one phone uses vs the other.
Even e-readers already break even with books after 36 paper equivalents
Nearly any other daily activity of a consumer in the developed world uses orders of magnitude more energy and resources than scrolling TikTok on a phone.
Examples?
– Driving to work: commuting burns far more fuel in a week than your phone uses in a year.
– Gym sessions: heated, lit, air-conditioned spaces plus transit add up quickly.
– Gaming or watching TV: bigger screens, bigger compute easily 100x and higher power needs vs phone gaming.
– Casually cooking at home: using a metric ton of appliances (oven, stove, fridge, pans) powered like twice a week, replaced every ~10 years.
– Reading print media: a daily newspaper or weekly book involves pulp, ink, shipping, and disposal.
– Streaming on a laptop or smart TV: even this draws more power than your phone.
– Taking a shower: the hot water energy use alone dwarfs your daily phone charge.
Of couse not doing any sports or culture is also not what societies want, but energy wise a sedentary passive tiktok lifestyle is as eco friendly as it get's vs. any other real world example.
Phones are basically the least resource-intensive tool we use regularly. Externalities, context, and limited human time effects matter a lot more than what one phone uses vs the other.
Even e-readers already break even with books after 36 paper equivalents
https://www.npr.org/2024/05/25/1252930557/book-e-reader-kind...