Using a 50” LED TV for just 3 hours every day can mean about 9 Kgs of CO2 released into the environment every month, purely from the electricity consumed. Add to it the fan / AC or lights that accompany this experience and you may be releasing upwards of 90 kgs of CO2 per month.

Apart from the damaging effect, watching television, has on the environment, the monetary value of this consumption is also a significant waste, if used purely for entertainment. In the case of mobile phones, the upstream effect of manufacturing the device is significantly more damaging to the environment than its use - as the electricity consumption in this case is negligible. Consider the fact that to produce a single smartphone, 34kg of ore needs to be mined, using 100 liters of water and 20.5g of cyanide. So how then do we make an impact by just reducing its usage? From an environment perspective, reducing its usage, increase its life and consequently reduces the need to replace a phone too quickly. It saves the environment from a new phone manufactured as well as an old one scrapped and out into our land-fills.

The social impact of screen time on children’s growth and our relationships is well documented and we need not delve into those here. However, let’s be sensitive to the environment and reduce the time we spend on phones and television, switch off the television when not in use, watch on smaller screens with lesser electricity consumption, desist from replacing these devices before they are completely non-functional. Let’s teach our children to invest that time in physical, spiritual or for that matter environmental activities for the greater good of mankind.

Write to us about and let us know about what devices you avoided and for how much time during active day hours, at a stretch–forms@appliedjainism.inand get a certificate. Make sure to mention your full name