Until the beginning of 2020, business trips to congresses, meetings or seminars were part of everyday working life and, despite the costs and environmental impact, there was often no alternative. The covid pandemic changed this abruptly.
Event organizers had to rethink, including us at mbw. What had previously led a shadowy existence suddenly became the standard: streamed events were the only way to keep the business going!
Whether digital congress, video conference or streamed general meeting: streaming events were the savior in times of need and they did stick around!
Even after the pandemic, many are opting for this option because it has several advantages.
Streamed events protect the environment
Firstly, there is the time advantage: dialing into a digital event is much quicker than having to travel to the event. Of course, the elimination of travel and hotel costs is also an advantage of streamed events. Moreover many more people can take part, even those who don't have the time to travel.
One important aspect that is always emphasized is the environmental benefit. And indeed, streamed events can score several points here.
Streamed events have these environmental benefits
- Reduced CO2 emission as there is no need to travel by car or plane
- Lower energy consumption for heating, air conditioning, lighting and other technology at the venue
- Avoidance of waste such as leftover food or packing, which is generated by catering at events, among other things
- Protection of natural resources such as forests – which otherwise often have to suffer for the construction of event venues and infrastructure
Unfortunately, streamed events also have disadvantages – meaning no pure environmental angels?
Streaming can therefore help to reduce the environmental impact of events. However, digital events do not come without disadvantages.
First of all there is the social factor: business environment, direct interaction with business partners, customers or even competitors is valuable. As the covid pandemic has shown, if events only take place online, this can even lead to isolation and depression in the worst-case scenario – especially for people who are used to interacting frequently and in person. Problems with technology can also be a significant disruptive factor.
Unfortunately, streamed events are not exactly pure blessings if it comes to the environment either.
Disadvantages of streamed events
- Streaming generates greenhouse gas emissions, for example for data processing in the data center, at the streaming service itself and through transmission to the participant
- Participants also cause CO2 emissions through their internet use. If many people access an event at the same time, this can even lead to internet overload
- Many technical devices are required to stream events, both on the organizer's side and the user's side. At the end of their service life, these devices become electronic waste and harm the environment
Minimize environmental damage from streamed events
However, greenhouse gas emissions from digital events can be reduced by using the right technolgy.
According to the Federal Environment Agency*, the lowest CO2 emissions are produced when HD video is streamed to your home via a fiber optic connection – only two grams of CO2 are released per hour for the data center and data transmission. With a copper cable (VDSL), the figure is already four grams and with data transmissions via UMTS a full 90 grams of CO2 per hour. Therefore, it is up to to politicians, among others, to pushahead with the expansion of fiber optics.
Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said according to the Federal Environment Agency*: ”Climate-friendly streaming is possible if you get it right and choose the right way to transmit data. From an environmental point of view, it is a good idea to put up more public Wi-Fi hotspots, as this is more climate-friendly than streaming on the mobile network.“
And participants at digital events can also do their part to be more environmentally friendly – this also applies to private streaming of films at home after the event.
mbw tips for environmentally friendly streaming
- Pay attention to sustainability when choosing your electricity and internet provider
- The PC consumes a lot of energy! At some events, you might be able to use a tablet or smartphone instead
- If possible, connect your mobile devices to the internet via Wifi. This data transmission requires less energy than transmission via mobile networks
- Deactivate your home Wi-Fi network at night or when you are not at home. The router constantly needs power when the WLAN connection is activated
- Sell on your used electrical appliances or give them away for recycling. Consider whether a reconditioned used appliance is an option instead of a new one
Conclusion: streamed events are an environmentally friendly alternative
At mbw, we believe in streaming because streamed events have less of an impact on the environment. However, it is also important to keep an eye on the potential environmental disadvantages, as these can be partially minimized.
Of course, ”real“ events in person also have some advantages – especially in social terms. That is why we are not commiting ourselves:
mbw organizes presence events and digital events in equal measure and is also happy to arganize hybrid events.
*Source: https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/video-streaming-art-der-datenuebertragung
