There has never been a year on record like 2022 in which so many countries have experienced record heat waves like nothing they’ve ever seen before. While the United Kingdom had record high temperatures on two consecutive days in mid-July, Northern California set record highs for five consecutive days later in the month.
Global warming is a reality the earth is facing and unless nations band together to drastically lower our carbon footprint, there are fears we will reach the point of no return. Although it sounds like something from a backdrop for a dystopian film, we are living at the beginning of a future we had long been warned of. So then, what does this have to do with eco-friendly digital display screens you might ask? The answer is, pretty much everything. Let’s take a closer look at that.
Beyond the Loss of Trees
To begin with, let’s look briefly at digital displays for advertising. The number of trees that can be left standing is beyond what you can even begin to imagine. If it’s all about reducing our carbon footprint, consider for just a moment the benefits of leaving trees standing. Instead of print advertising, digital signage could be utilized.
At the moment, digital displays are used in malls, theatres, on the sides of buildings, for public transport schedules and routes, and in so many other ways. However, that’s just the beginning of what it means to replace print adverts with digital displays. Each of those displays will need changing as products and sales change and when public transport schedules change, all those new paper schedules would replace the older times, fares, and routes.
So far, we are only talking about saving our trees so that we don’t produce all that waste as things change and reprints are needed. Now, let’s move on to waste. Our landfills are already overflowing and there is an insufficient amount of recycling of paper goods to have much effect on that. In the United States, one of the countries with the highest carbon footprint, over 250 million tons of trash are produced each year from paper goods alone. That’s a lot of waste.
The Question of Energy
Next, there is controversy over the amount of energy needed to power those digital displays. Actually, while electricity is needed, it is significantly less than the amount being used to cut and process trees into paper along with transporting trash to landfills. With eco-friendly LED digital displays, the amount of energy utilised is negligible in comparison.
It is further suggested that digital display screens should regulate lighting in terms of the ambient light surrounding the screen. There are automatic sensors that can raise or lower the amount of light needed and beyond that, touch screens should be used sparingly as they utilise more energy as well. With so many countries now seeking alternative ways to produce electricity, the use of fossil fuels is greatly reduced.
Wind and solar farms are producing a great amount of energy, as are the nuclear power plants still in existence. Some countries have large hydro stations as well as wind and solar farms. Therefore, the amount of fossil fuels being used to power digital displays is being reduced by the day. There is one more point to consider here. By leaving the trees standing, they take in the CO2 during photosynthesis to produce oxygen and that also helps to significantly reduce CO2 in the atmosphere if they are left standing.
Environmentally Safe Production of Software and Hardware
As mentioned above, one of the major benefits of eco-friendly digital displays for advertising is the fact that there is little to no waste involved. Digital signage lasts at least a decade before needing repairs and everything is controlled with software. Any changes can be handled via wireless connectivity so there is also a greater emphasis on the systems used to develop the software and manufacture the digital signage.
It's all in keeping with a circular economy that has a strong emphasis on sustainability. Not only are digital displays eco-friendly but they are also less expensive to use in the long term. Initially, there is an expense, but over time there is little upkeep and all signage can be handled from a computer. If your company is seeking sustainable solutions to make a positive impact on correcting the harm we’ve done to the earth, this is a great and highly visible place to start.
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