Magazine looks a bit different this time. The reason for this is that we would like to turn the attention of the industry to a problem that remains outside the agenda of the entertainment business – climate change.

Facts related to the negative effects of watching online video have been known for years but continue to be ignored by the businesses driving the streaming revolution of the modern age. Already back in 2013, reports appeared in the media of the tons of carbon emissions generated by viral videos on Facebook and YouTube. Six years later, the online video industry has reached humongous proportions as mobile video consumption doubles every year and YouTube alone generates more than 1 billion hours of viewing every single day. A new report by The Shift Project has given a new perspective to this “invisible danger” – digital technology usage (80% from video) generates 1% of the global carbon emissions and could double by 2025 to 2%, which equals the global automobile emissions.

These stats are striking and indeed hard to grasp: how to explain to people that flying on a plane, or driving the car to get to work has the same negative effect on the environment as binging shows on Netflix? We never see the consequences. Gas comes out of the cars and planes but not from our digital player! We all like to watch super sharp picture quality but do we realize how much more energy is needed to play a 4K or 8K video? The difference could be between 5 and 25 times!

In the times when humanity is beginning to realize and (hopefully) starting to fight with the negative effects on nature caused by most of our daily activities, economies and commodities, the entertainment industry must also address its own contribution to the pollution of our planet which is about 80% far from having a 100% green energy supply.

The more we consume, the more we damage the eco system of our only home. So before playing that next episode keep in mind that Mars is still not an option!