{"id":351673,"date":"2025-08-17T13:06:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T13:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/351673\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T13:06:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T13:06:10","slug":"is-wi-fi-bad-for-the-environment-eye-catching-london-ad-suggests-our-digital-habits-are-damaging-the-climate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/351673\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Wi-Fi bad for the environment? Eye-catching London ad suggests our digital habits are \u2018damaging the climate\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A PhD student shared a photograph<\/a> of an ad for the University of East London, implying that Wi-Fi is detrimental to the environment (h\/t vx-underground<\/a>). The poster says, \u201cWiFi doesn\u2019t grow on trees. Your screen time is damaging the climate.\u201d Although it\u2019s easy to assume that it\u2019s telling us that wireless networking is bad for the environment, a second look at the message focuses more on the time we spend in front of our phones, tablets, smart TVs, and computers, rather than on the Wi-Fi transmission itself.<\/p>\n

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.@AndyMasley you\u2019re desperately needed on the London tube!! pic.twitter.com\/femGSAgxv0August 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Its initial message was intended to catch the attention of the public, with the ad showing a link to the organization\u2019s \u2018Think Again\u2019 campaign<\/a> that challenges the status quo. If you visit that page, you\u2019ll see that one of the topics covered there is society\u2019s use of social media and how it\u2019s pushing data centers across the globe to produce more emissions than those generated by the global airline industry. It goes on to show how the University is driving research to make data centers more sustainable, reducing the negative impact of our use of social media on the environment.<\/p>\n

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The poster doesn\u2019t really say that Wi-Fi is bad for the environment \u2014 it only tells you that it doesn\u2019t grow on trees. University of East London\u2019s ad did gather the interest of the people who saw it, especially as it seemingly contradicted something that most of us know as fact \u2014 that Wi-Fi is safe. It\u2019s quite effective, too. However, this ad can be easily misunderstood by some people, especially conspiracy theorists who think wireless technology is dangerous (like 5G) and are encouraging everyone to start wearing tin foil hats.<\/p>\n

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Nevertheless, we did see some hilarious responses to vx-underground\u2019s post, including users who were thinking about how it would be possible to use a router to cause actual harm to the environment by building a massive router that puts out high-energy microwaves. There are also a few who wanted to determine the actual energy consumption of every Wi-Fi device plugged into the outlet across the U.K., and some who are pondering the actual physical weight of the data transmitted across the waves.<\/p>\n

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