What Is It and Why Is It Necessary?

Today, there are billions of people around the world using streaming sites and apps, be it Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, or similar. There's no doubt that streaming services have taken home entertainment to the next level, but this is having an impact on our environment. Enter the Greening of Streaming, but what exactly is this, and how can it help our planet?

What Is the Greening of Streaming?

The Greening of Streaming is an organization founded to help tackle the energy impact of the streaming industry. As of the start of 2023, over 230 million people worldwide use Netflix, according to Statista. And this is just one of the most popular streaming services out there today and already has a user base larger than many national populations.

All these people flocking to streaming platforms on a daily basis begs the question: how much energy is this using up? It's this concern that The Greening of Streaming is looking to confront.

The Greening of Streaming was founded by Dom Robinson, the owner of id3as, an Advanced Video Pipeline (AVP) company that works to optimize streaming platforms. Robinson has worked in the streaming industry for many years and has also acted as a conference moderator for British and American events.

Robinson's concerns surrounding the huge energy usage of streaming platforms gave way to the Greening of Streaming. Robinson has worked to put the organization's name out there and spread awareness. The first Greening of Streaming meetup took place in September 2021, with the most recent at the time of this writing having occurred in May 2023.

The Greening of Streaming's goal is to make streaming more energy efficient at home while still offering the consumer an enjoyable service.

One of The Greening of Streaming's key elements is the LESS Accord. This stands for “Low Energy Sustainable Streaming” and has a range of objectives focused on using compression technologies on streaming platforms to lower energy usage.

On the official website of the Greening of Streaming, it is stated that the LESS Accord "will have the collective aim of reducing energy usage across the complete scope from initial encoding for distribution, to the point of decoding and display on consumer devices for all types of video delivery service."

Why Is the Greening of Streaming So Important?

We've all seen how our planet is changing as a result of our modern world. Electricity usage plays a huge role in this, as non-renewable resources are often used to provide this energy.

The top streaming services, such as YouTube, Twitch, and Netflix, now have a combined user base well within the billions. And many of these users hop onto these platforms on a daily or weekly basis.

How Can You Get Involved With the Greening of Streaming?

The Greening of Streaming offers a membership to those who want to help fund the organization. Because the Greening of Streaming is a nonprofit, it relies heavily on contributions from members. However, memberships are geared more toward companies, as they cost thousands of dollars a year.

But there is another way that you can get involved here.

The Greening of Streaming also accepts ideas from those who want to contribute to the LESS Accord by suggesting ways through which LESS could be implemented. On the LESS Accord webpage is a submission form that you can fill out in minutes if you have solid ideas you want to share.

You can also follow Greening of Streaming on Twitter or subscribe to its YouTube channel to stay updated on the organization's progress.

The Greening of Streaming Is Addressing an Important Issue

While streaming gives us access to amazing TV shows, movies, videos, and podcasts, the environmental impact of this globally popular pastime has to be considered. If you're big on streaming but also want to protect the planet, check out Greening of Streaming to see how you can help.

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