The COVID-19 pandemic forced approximately 85% of students to shift to online learning in 2020 (Selwyn, 2021). There is some speculation as to whether online learning is the most beneficial approach to teaching and learning for the environment. Online learning has many positive impacts on the environment, such as decreased student and teacher travel and decreased energy usage in schools, both reducing carbon emissions. Although these changes assist with the carbon footprint of these institutions, online learning can also have significant negative impacts on the environment. We must strive for a more sustainable future in education technology. Moreover, higher education must be part of the solution instead of the problem. Selwyn (2021) states, “digital education is founded on a technology industry that has an ‘explosive’ footprint in terms of global greenhouse gas emissions – a trend that is set to increase in an ‘alarming’ manner over the next few decades” (p. 502). This paper will examine online learning’s negative impact on the environment, specifically electronic waste (e-waste) and data infrastructures, and where higher education should strive to be by 2030.

The increase in laptop and tablet purchases due to the pivot to online learning is a cause for concern regarding e-waste. E-waste is “defined as electronic items that have reached their end of life” (ERI, 2022, para. 1). Some examples of e-waste include computers, phones, tablets, and printers. Chatterjee and Abraham (2017) state that only 12.5% of the world’s e-waste is recycled correctly. This may be due to individuals being unaware of how to recycle their end of life electronics properly. E-waste is typically disposed of in the same manner as ordinary household garbage, which is one of the most serious issues with its disposal (Debnath et al., 2016). ERI (2022) suggests that by 2030, the annual production of e-waste will double based on the trends over the years, generating over 67 million tons worldwide. This statistic alone is concerning due to the harm e-waste can cause. The growing e-waste and the process of manufacturing and delivering new technologies cause substantial environmental damage (Selwyn, 2021). This kind of waste consists of heavy metals and elements that pollute water, air, and soil, produce poisonous gases, and negatively affect the environment and public health (Saldaña-Duránm & Messina-Fernández, 2021). However, e-waste is not the only negative impact online learning has on the environment; it also uses data infrastructures, which require large amounts of energy and water to function (Selwyn, 2021).

Online learning relies on data infrastructures in order to function efficiently. These data infrastructures are where “servers for storing, retrieving, and executing data are stored” (Brdar, 2022). For students and teachers participating in online learning, these infrastructures are required to access networks, connect virtually, and store information on cloud storage. Unfortunately, these data infrastructures significantly add to global energy consumption (Selwyn, 2021). Although the innovation of ‘green energy’ is paving its way into these infrastructures making them more sustainable, “data center energy usage is expected to quadruple by 2030” (Garcia, 2022, para. 20). If energy efficiency does not improve, this growing energy usage can lead to an increase in global electricity use from 3% to 13% by the year 2030. From the government to institutions and students, change will only occur in education technology if everyone contributes to a sustainable future. Therefore, it is essential to recognize that the fight against climate change requires significant coordination of institutional, technological, and behavioural changes at the global, national, local, and even household levels (Hite & Seitz, 2016).

Due to the shift to online learning’s negative impact on the environment, we must collectively strive for a more sustainable future by 2030. In order to get there, institutions need to ensure they are doing their part in reducing the amount of dumped e-waste. Instead of dumping e-waste, “institutions can develop cultures of procuring refurbished and reconditioned hardware, as well as developing in-house capacity to repair and refurbish technology” (Selwyn, 2021, p. 504). This approach can decrease the amount of e-waste these institutions are generating. In addition, students also have the responsibility to ensure they are correctly disposing of e-waste. Instead of holding onto their old electronics or dumping e-waste incorrectly, students should bring their end of life devices to recycling centers or return them to the original manufacturers (Gilal et al., 2022).

Furthermore, it must be acknowledged that there need to be significant changes, starting with how technology is produced. There is increasing pressure on technology manufacturers to create green technologies to assist in the movement to sustainable technology (Yashvantini, 2019). Green technologies refer to the “measures taken to reduce or eliminate at the source of production any nuisance, pollution, or waste, and to help save raw materials, natural resources, and energy” (Ebrahim, 2020, para. 5), minimizing the negative impacts on the environment. Reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions across the whole manufacturing process, from the procurement of raw materials to the delivery to retail locations, is another crucial aspect when developing green technology (Yashvantini, 2019). Studies have shown that 70-80% of the energy used within the lifetime of a laptop happens during the manufacturing process (Selwyn, 2021). Due to the high costs of producing these green technologies, change needs to come from our global leaders. President Joe Biden’s ‘Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’ invested over $20 billion in green technology demonstration projects, while in 2021, private venture capital investment set a record by investing $40 billion in green technology startups (Sivaram, 2022). These are highly encouraging investments that will contribute immensely to advancements in green technology. Although manufacturers need to develop green technologies, it is even more crucial for consumers, like higher education, to purchase them. This can lead to reduced carbon emissions produced by education technology.

Due to collective contributions from global leaders, manufacturers, higher education, and even students over the next several years, it is possible to predict that by 2030, carbon emissions that root from online learning can decrease. It will be significant for our global leaders to continue to invest in green technology, for institutions to develop programs that refurbish and reuse e-waste, and for higher education to educate students on correctly managing e-waste. These approaches can lead to online learning being the most eco-sustainable method of learning in higher education.

References

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