Streaming Challenge

In this playful and reflective activity, young people calculate and visualise the ecological footprint of their streaming habits. By comparing data, discussing results and imagining more sustainable alternatives, they develop a concrete understanding of how digital lifestyles affect the environment and what individual and collective action can look like.

Goals

Foster practical understanding of how digital devices are built
Strengthen confidence and problem-solving skills through hands-on repair
Encourage awareness of sustainability and the value of extending product lifespans
Promote critical thinking about design, consumer rights, and planned obsolescence

CO2 Calculators

You will need a CO₂ calculator or prepare comparative data (streaming, music, gaming)

Ecotree CO2 Calculator
CO2 Calculator of the German Federal Office for Environment (EN, DE)
Diital Carbon Footprint by Jens Gröger, researcher in the Eco Institute

Steps

Introduction

Everyone estimates how many hours per week they stream.

Group work

Groups calculate their ‘streaming footprint’ using simple CO₂ values (e.g. 1 hour HD ≈ 150 g CO₂)

Discussion

Make the results visible (e.g. comparison with car travel).

Explanatory Data

Producing a smartphone of 140 g demands about 700 MJ of primary energy.
Producing a smartphone generates in France 400 times more emissions than its utilisation.
If a person uses a smartphone from the age of 10 to the age of 80 and it is replaced every two years, the result is the equivalent of 200,000 km travelled by train
Around 80 % of internet taffic is caused by streaming.

Source: The Shift Project, 2019

More facts and sources can be found on our page: Digitalisation and the Environment

Creative task

Groups consider how streaming could be made more climate-friendly (lower quality, watching together, providers with green electricity).

Reflection

Presentation (15 minutes)

Would I have to give it up completely or is conscious action enough?’
What surprises did you find in your carbon footprint?
Which measures do you think are realistic in everyday life?
What responsibility lies with users – and what responsibility lies with providers and politicians?

Variations

Cooperation with experts: Invite local repair cafés, FabLabs or tech-savvy people to act as mentors.
Mini version: Only cables & chargers – quicker sense of achievement.
Long version: Create a ‘repair tutorial’ (video or poster) that other young people can use.

References

Reinhard, J.; Ramesohl, S.; Schmidt, S. (2024). Vodafone Institute for Society and Communications (2020). Circularity as the Service. Zukunftsbild Smartphone: Wege zur Kreislaufwirtschaft. Vodafone Institut für Gesellschaft und Kommunikation. Berlin. https://www.vodafone-institut.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/kreislaufwirtschaft-smartphone.pdf, accessed 05/05/2025

The Shift Project (2019). Lean ICT: Towards digital sobriety – Report of the Working Group directed by Hugues Ferreboeuf for the Think Tank The Shift Project. March 2019. Retrieved from: https://theshiftproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Lean-ICT-Report_The-Shift-Project_2019.pdf

Handbook: More than Go with the Flow

A handbook on Digital Citizenship Education, created in the frame of the project DIYW-ROAD/Competendo. Digital Youth Work - rights-sensitive, open, accessible, democratic.
Unless otherwise stated, authors and editors of the methods published in the project are Elisa Rapetti, Markus José Plasencia Kanzler, and Nils-Eyk Zimmermann