We’re in the midst of a climate emergency. The internet contributes 2% of the world’s global carbon emissions. Can we create an eco-mode for Firefox that empowers users to reduce emissions and advocate for a more sustainable internet? What else could the open internet do for the planet? This session invites technologists, designers, climate activists and citizens who care about the internet and the planet to dream and develop this idea and even more ambitious ones together.
Goals of this session
Through some prepared materials and a peer knowledge exchange, participants will learn more about the internet’s contribution to the climate emergency. Participants will then generate and engage with ideas for climate action with the browser, sharing their expertise, insights and suggestions in an interactive format. We’ll conclude with a structured documentation of the brainstorm and ways to continue developing and discussing the ideas.
Firefox Eco-Mode Brainstorming: How can the internet tackle the climate emergency
In this Mozfest 2019 session, we aimed to generate 100 ideas for what the internet could do to tackle the climate emergency. An eco-mode for Firefox was an anchor in our imagination, but wild and weird ideas from further afar were very welcome!
These notes will contribute to an exploration about if and how we could make an eco-mode for Firefox and what other things the tech sector could do.
Many thanks to all the participants for such a positive and generous session!
Meta mindsets
Reverse the pursuit for growth
Future proofing: Space Internet! Energy and bandwidth are precious. Efficiency is more important than abundance. Interplanetary internet. EHTP HSML.
Meta: quantify environmental impact of different measures
How much does a bit cost?
Transparency: the more we know, the more we can make better choices
Manufacturing, hardware and recycling
Manufacturing phase: gather data about environmental cost hotspots
Green manufacturer ratings
Recycling and reusing all computer components
Ecowires: what does complete wireless and hardware cost?
H2O: how much water is used in the production of hardware
How does the hardware get sourced? Fairphone!
Use feature phones and other developing country technology
Big tech: who is really sourcing and who should be more accountable?
Hardware recycling
Support for old hardware / BL compatibility
Transparency in production and usage
Hosting and data centers
AWS: find the geographical location of servers
Geo-IP: client can find IP of servers which hosts
Eco-hosting
Move hosting to areas with renewable energy—in real time
Green Dat Site (also decentralized!): Dat hosting service built into Firefox. Guaranteed green hosting.
AWS, Google, FB: quarterly report on cloud service providers
Green host
Cache, routing and decentralized prototcols
Cache: is there a caching proxy
Decentralization
Caching: make data local
Compression
Download/cache mops etc
Eco-routes: impact of choice
Cache more static sites.
Data cache planning
How do we analyze the future
Firefox green CDN cache (Opera does this in Africa)
Gamify visiting small sites
Edge caching of content
Edge computation to reduce computation in network centers
E-waste commons (localized)
Openflow: more even network energy distribution
Local browsing: intelligent routing
Decentralized internet (to reduce routing costs)
Punish energy consuming websites
Measurements and usage data
Time is up: Calculate the time to use tech to minimize footprint
Energy star rating for software
Daily browser carbon budget
Data diet. Group carbon loss plan? Peer pressure.
Carbon budget: Switch to low bandwidth.
Ecosia reverse. “You saved 3 trees worth of CO2 from loading ads.”
Server room power? During the night? AC?
Power consumption statistics
Device durability and longevity
Footprint of each website
Save your data for future enjoyment: plain text in the morning, Netflix at night.
Eco budget timer
Web development and developer tools
carbon.txt: headers in carbon.txt
Static websites
Is a website dynamically generated?
Produce less data. Use less energy.
Carbon tab in inspector
Greenhint: provide service for audit and limiting (like Lightbeam)
Machine learning to suggest green practices
Dark mode stylesheet override
Energy rating for libraries and frontends
Stack of energy saving tech
Archive Wayback changes API
Freeze-mode for website developers (freeze SS when tab in background).
Analysis tools
Scripts to modify social sites
Static site CMS
Browsing
Addon: Addon which slows down site when user is using carbon-intensive websites
Reducing file size
Internet minimalism: static sites
Lazy loading
Tab sleeper
Processor lock
Time sessions in browser
Firewall for background requests
Slow down websites (penalty or tax)
Browser remembers stuff. Learn not to keep going back.
Eco-mode site usage tracker: time/CO2/data
Firefox Geolocation: to see how green. Use geolocation in the place you browse from
Request by default mini resources
Show site meter over time: This site is 70% bigger than other sites.
Slow load of tab on heavy sites, incentivize small sites
Offset the usage to be more ecological
Browser shut-down when energy limit is up
Browser warning if browsing website is not on green energy
If you are browsing a website that is not green, slow down speed by 10.
Compare power consumption and carbon footprint from browsing with peers
Encourage browsing locally. Option to only search local sites.
Plant a tree per million request.
Browser extension to show countries of origin
Greenbeam!
Biking browser
Media
Request skinny media by default
Strip ads, images, videos, minimal media
HTML4: media mode override
Hide images and styles
Ad block
Eco Ad Block: Don’t buy this!
Block ads!
Aggressive filter on ads. Ad track savings measured in trees
Reverse Ecosia: “You saved 10 trees by not loading these ads!”
UX and design
Reverse attention economy. Less sticky.
health labels: log off!
Surface data from browsers
Low alerts: don’t notify me all the time
A mindfulness display on usage
Gamify an ecological browsing experience. Set targets.
New tab eco advice checklist
Make Amazon black and white to reduce appeal
Professional education and practices
education and developer skills
Web console hints for devs re energy consumption
Certifications and audits
Carbon Certificate: signed certificates by carbon consultancy
carbon.txt: show credentials on site and can audit
Internet health monitor
Offset browsing energy consumption
Eco audits
Ecology badge (like Privacy Badge)
Consumer choices
My preferences for brands etc
My eco-concern preferences
Eco Reviews
Green product preferences
“Do not shop!” Alternatives to what you had chosen
Green product recommendations
How much CO2 does a product produce?
Enforce a 48 hour delay before online orders are processed
How do we make this visible? Messages from people impacted by climate change
Eco mode raises money for good causes
Countdown indicator: 837 dates before irreversible climate change. Act!
“We care!” Firefox users care
Connect to network of environmental orgs
International connectivity: making it all easier
Conscious Consumers: eco-mode offer partnerships
Users as a constituency: eco-mode unionization
Get Involved!
Join the Climate Action Tech community. A Slack channel of 1000+ tech professionals using our skills, expertise and platforms to support solutions to the climate crisis.
Green Web Foundation Open source software and open data to quantify and reduce carbon in digital products.