Key Takeaways:
- Digital downloads offer several eco-friendly benefits over physical discs, including helping reduce landfill waste associated with physical products.
- A digital download can help minimize manufacturing- and transportation-related carbon emissions, which are often associated with physical CDs.
- Downloading software digitally reduces energy use, resource extraction, and the production of printed materials, which are often linked to the creation of physical CDs.
Decades ago, you would go to a big-box office and electronics store to pick up your new Windows operating system CD, then spend the evening installing it as Hard Copy played in the background.
Today’s a new day. The background noise of Hard Copy has now been replaced with Black Mirror, and installing the latest version of your main device’s new software begins with the click of a mouse rather than a drive to town.
Hard copies (pardon the pun) are a thing of the past, not just because digital downloads are more convenient for you but because they’re better for the earth in more ways than you might realize. Let’s explore the core environmental benefits of digital downloads vs. physical discs.
Waste Reduction
Thanks to digital downloads, Blu-rays, DVDs, and CDs are now considered relics of the past. That’s great news for Mother Earth, as these items and their packaging contribute substantially to global plastic waste. Physical media rely heavily on PVC and polycarbonate, hard-to-recycle materials that also require significant energy to produce. They also feature materials like oil-based inks and aluminum, which often end up in landfills, where they may remain for centuries before finally breaking down.
The Digital Difference
Each time you download security software for Windows or business and office software digitally, you save one fewer disc from being produced, transported, and later discarded. This is especially valuable for business software users, since the software must be updated frequently. Now, you can seamlessly update this software online, reflecting a sustainable approach to software consumption.
A Warning About Cracked Software
Be careful to avoid cracked software when purchasing digital downloads, though. Cracked software is legitimate software that someone has illicitly modified to bypass copy-protection and activation systems so they can use it for free. Using cracked software can actually contribute to increased landfill waste because it’s a common way for malware to enter devices. This malware can cause near-permanent or permanent damage to their security, performance, and data, which means more ruined devices in landfills.
Decreased Manufacturing-Related Carbon Emissions
Producing physical discs requires several steps that rely heavily on the use of carbon:
- Petroleum extraction for plastics
- Disc manufacturing
- Insert printing
- Packaging assembling
Each of these steps requires electricity, chemicals, and heat, but digital downloads allow you to bypass this chain. Data centers consume energy, but manufacturing millions of discs globally requires much more energy and contributes significantly to emissions.
Decreased Transportation and Related Emissions
Physical discs have to be shipped to warehouses from factories before going to retail stores and ultimately to consumers, typically across continents. The logistics chain for getting these discs to the customer relies on fossil-fuel-burning planes, ships, and trucks. A digital download eliminates transportation, reducing emissions from final-mile delivery, freight, and packaging.
Reduced Energy Use Over Time
Physical discs require energy not only for shipping and production but also for retail environments and warehouse storage. Digital downloads, on the other hand, depend on modern data centers, which have become increasingly energy-efficient over the past several years. Even though downloading and streaming consume electricity, they still have a lower overall energy footprint than producing, storing, and distributing physical discs.
Resource Extraction Decrease
Producing a disc requires dyes for the printing stage, petroleum for producing plastics, and metals for the reflective layers. Drilling and mining for such materials cause the emission of greenhouse gases (which deplete the ozone layer, Earth’s protective shield against harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun), habitat destruction, and water pollution. Raw materials like these aren’t necessary to produce digital downloads, making digital software distribution a cleaner, more responsible way to care for today’s natural resources.
On-Demand Software Consumption
Digital downloads enable on-demand software consumption, preventing overproduction. A physical product must be bulk-manufactured, which typically results in unsold inventory that is eventually destroyed or discarded. Digital products eliminate the waste associated with excess stock, since they are produced only when downloaded. This benefit is especially key for industries like music and gaming, where demand may fluctuate unpredictably.
Printed Material Reduction
Printed materials and documentation often accompany physical CDs, but these are unnecessary for digital downloads. Physical media have historically required printing for software manuals, multiple-page booklets of instructions, promotional flyers, and warranty inserts. However, the paper production process relies heavily on resources, as it involves the use of bleaching chemicals, deforestation, and water consumption. Shifting to a digital format drastically decreases the environmental strain and paper production associated with both producing and discarding printed materials, as a digital download allows an update, guide, or manual to be sent to a user electronically.
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