Digital culture has become ubiquitous in 2025, with online exhibitions, streaming concerts, and virtual museums offering unprecedented access to cultural content. However, this digital abundance carries a hidden environmental cost. The energy required to design, host, and deliver these experiences contributes significantly to global carbon emissions. According to The Shift Project, as the world’s leading data consumer, the cultural sector drives nearly three-quarters (75%) of digital usage emissions, fueled by the push for high-volume formats where a two-hour film in VR can be 114 times heavier than in standard definition. As cultural institutions accelerate their digital transformation, integrating web ecodesign principles becomes essential to limit environmental footprint while maintaining accessibility and creativity.
Understanding Web Ecodesign
Web ecodesign, also known as “green UX,” refers to developing digital services that minimize energy and resource consumption throughout their entire life cycle, from initial design to daily use. This approach rests on four key pillars :
- Simplicity involves avoiding unnecessary features and heavy animations that drain resources without adding genuine value.
- Sobriety emphasizes using optimized media and minimalist interfaces that deliver content efficiently.
- Durability focuses on creating long-lasting, modular code that remains functional over time.
- Efficiency prioritizes green hosting solutions, implements data caching, and reduces server requests. Web ecodesign aligns digital performance with environmental ethics, making it particularly relevant for the cultural sector, where meaning and value matter as much as technological innovation.
The environmental cost of digital cultural services
The French Ministry of Culture reports that digital cultural offerings have to be taken into account in the global impact of digital. While this percentage may appear modest, it continues to grow as more institutions transition online. Museums, libraries, and theaters increasingly rely on digital infrastructures that involve high-resolution images, online ticketing systems, and streaming archives. These services enhance cultural accessibility but simultaneously multiply data transfers and storage requirements.
Research by the ADEME in 2023 revealed that reading, music, and video streaming account for the majority of the ecological footprint within digital culture. Ten hours of HD video consumption generates approximately 1.6 kg of CO₂ equivalent, while a single digital book represents around 20 to 30 MB of data stored permanently on servers. According to the DINUM, digital services must for instance offer an audio-only mode for videos, automatically disabling the video stream when the content is not actively viewed to significantly reduce data traffic
Music streaming: when digital convenience conflicts with sustainability
Music streaming platforms provide a compelling case study of how digital convenience can undermine ecological responsibility. Services like Spotify, initially designed exclusively for audio delivery, have progressively integrated video formats including short clips, artist visuals, and animated loops that accompany playback. While these features may boost user engagement metrics, they substantially increase data transfer and energy consumption for a service whose primary function remains delivering sound.
Research from Kobe University in Japan reinforces these concerns through a comprehensive life cycle assessment published by MDPI in 2021. The study measured emissions related to online music and video streaming, encompassing server manufacturing, data transmission, and end-user devices. In 2019, total streaming emissions in Japan reached roughly 921,000 tonnes of CO₂, with music accounting for over 12%. The researchers emphasized that even minor interface choices, such as autoplay features or embedded visuals, can exponentially multiply energy costs when scaled to millions of users.
These findings should prompt serious reflection within the cultural sector, where institutions frequently promote sustainability values. Digital abundance—the endless reproduction of data-intensive content—risks undermining the ecological commitments these organizations claim to uphold.
Implementing Sustainable Digital Practices
The transition toward responsible digital culture requires both technical optimization and editorial awareness. Organizations should begin by optimizing multimedia content through limiting video resolution or offering audio-only options where appropriate. Rationalizing data architecture, reducing third-party scripts, and selecting renewable-energy hosting providers all contribute meaningfully to lowering emissions.
Promoting digital sobriety also means producing content that remains relevant over extended periods rather than chasing constant updates. Cultural institutions should educate audiences about more sustainable consumption habits, such as downloading music for repeated listening instead of streaming the same tracks multiple times.Measurement tools like EcoIndex.fr enable institutions to assess the environmental performance of their web services and adjust design strategies accordingly. Making these evaluations publicly available reinforces organizational transparency and accountability.
The human dimension of digital sustainability
Technical optimization alone cannot achieve true digital sustainability. Gobinda Chowdhury, a researcher from the University of Strathclyde, emphasizes that digital sustainability in libraries and cultural services demands a holistic approach: “the sustainable business models to support digital libraries should also support equitable access supported by specific design and usability guidelines that facilitate easier, better and cheaper access.“
Ecodesign therefore becomes a shared responsibility involving project managers, designers, curators, and audiences collectively. It represents not merely an engineering challenge but also a cultural and ethical imperative that requires participation from all stakeholders.
Building a culture of digital responsibility
Cultural institutions can embody ecological values while maintaining their public mission to share knowledge and creativity by adopting web ecodesign principles. Building sustainable digital culture means designing experiences that respect the planet as much as the audience.
The time has arrived for cultural organizations, from libraries to music platforms, to lead the transition toward greener digital futures. Every optimization, every conscious design choice, contributes to a more sustainable relationship between technology and culture.
The TCLoc Master’s program offers specialized training in technical communication, localization, and web sustainability. Develop the expertise needed to shape environmentally responsible digital futures.
