As the climate situation becomes more and more critical, several major system-wide changes must take place to reduce the irreversible damage that will affect all living beings on the planet.
Several of these necessary changes may seem obvious (such as stopping the use of fossil fuels) but in some sectors it is not so obvious what needs to change. As a musician and designer, I’ve been thinking about this for some time.
At a time when music and graphic design primarily concerned physical products – vinyls, CDs, cassettes, magazines, books, etc. – it was quite easy to imagine a climate-positive transition: produce fewer products and ensure that the products that do get produced are made with sustainability in mind. But today, when media in all its forms are mainly consumed not through products but services on the Internet, the issue of climate change is suddenly a little more difficult.
All human activity affects the climate, including the Internet. In fact, the web has a very large impact on the climate — and there are some specific factors that are applicable to my practice. As I see it, there are three aspects of my work that can be more sustainable: The content/media itself, the tools used to create it and the underlying values and ideas expressed in the art.
1. Content: Low Tech
“The energy use of the internet can only stop growing when energy sources run out, unless we impose self-chosen limits.”
In the book “How to build a low-tech internet” Kris De Decker writes the following:
- + Our modern information society requires enormous amounts of energy to remain constantly connected to the Internet.
- + Wired internet connection requires less energy than WiFi, but 4G/5G requires more than WiFi.
- + The amount of energy is driven by our increased streaming of heavy files (such as video) via mobile data.
- + Energy use increases the more often we use the internet.
How do you translate this into practice as a creative?
- + Design lightweight websites that require little data.
- + Develop lightweight apps/programs, which can be used on older devices that use less energy(and so we don’t have to constantly buy new laptops and phones, more on this later.)
- + Lower the bit-rate on everything to reduce the amount of energy during data transfer.
- + Introduce a “speed limit” on the internet – in the same way as we make conscious restrictions in other situations (e.g. water consumption)
2. Tools: Permacomputing
“A holistic approach to computing and sustainability inspired from permaculture.”
I recently rediscovered the design duo 100 Rabbits which I followed quite intensively about 10 years ago. Much of their philosophy is highly relevant today. In a post, Devine Lu Linvega writes about so-called Permacomputing:
“The abundance of digital storage and processing power has caused an explosion in wastefulness, which shows in things like ridiculous hardware requirements for computing even the most trivial tasks. Permacomputing aims at only using computing when it has a strengthening effect on ecosystems.”
In my case, this can be translated into a new relationship with my tools used for work. The current life cycle of a computer, smartphone or similar is short due to planned obsolescence. Mainstream software for creatives are often subscription services rather than a one-time purchase, and in addition, the source code in all of these systems is closed, meaning that users themselves cannot review how their tools work. All this creates an unsustainable cycle:
The creator wants to do something ⭢ the creator subscribes to a subscription service to get access to the right tools ⭢ the software requirements grow larger than the computer / device can handle ⭢ the creator has to buy a new computer to continue working ⭢ repeat in infinity.
The sustainable option is to actively choose open source software that you pay for only once, that requires little processing power, that can run on a device that can last for years. When the device needs new life, it should be able to be modified or upgraded by changing internal parts, such as a new battery, extra internal memory, etc. It is also important that the device is easy to repair, so that you do not have to buy a new one immediately if an accident would occur.
3. Values and ideas: Solarpunk
“Solarpunk is a movement in speculative fiction, art, fashion and activism that seeks to answer and embody the question “what does a sustainable civilization look like, and how can we get there?” The aesthetics of solarpunk merge the practical with the beautiful, the well-designed with the green and wild, the bright and colorful with the earthy and solid. Solarpunk can be utopian, just optimistic, or concerned with the struggles en route to a better world — but never dystopian. As our world roils with calamity, we need solutions, not warnings. Solutions to live comfortably without fossil fuels, to equitably manage scarcity and share abundance, to be kinder to each other and to the planet we share. At once a vision of the future, a thoughtful provocation, and an achievable lifestyle.”
The above quote is a definition of the term Solarpunk, written by author Jay Springett. In contrast to Cyberpunk, the genre of sci-fi that imagines a dystopian future where the problems of the present have escalated into absurdity (where we are now), Solarpunk tries to do the opposite – by asking the question: What does the future look like if we can change our negative tendencies? What new challenges will that present? And what does that mean in how we see the world?
Embedded in the philosophy surrounding Solarpunk is also the desire to leave the imperialist dualism of the Western world and instead approach a non-dualistic approach to the ecosystem of all living things, something that occurs in many indigenous cultures, in Eastern religions and … in modern science.
Solarpunk is primarily an aesthetic movement, rather than a political philosophy. In order to navigate the political landscape, we should instead talk about the concept of degrowth, the notion that we cannot consume ourselves free from the climate crisis through green capitalism, but instead need to actively consume less and differently.
In my case, these philosophies can be applied in the direct aesthetic expression of my work. A kind of wabi-sabi approach to the aesthetic practice where the new and shiny does not have the highest status or is considered the most beautiful. But instead the human, non-perfect, with traces of use, highlighted.
Before even starting a creative project, it would perhaps be appropriate to ask yourself the question: Why? For who? Beneficial to whom? How does this affect the world around me?
Alexandra Papademetriou has written a good guide on how to think about these questions.
This discussion will be ongoing for the rest of my life, I imagine. Some might call it futile but I don’t see it that way. In the words of W.S. Merwin: