Students investigate the hidden environmental impact of the internet and everyday digital activities. Through research, discussion, infographic creation, and a persuasive presentation, they learn about digital carbon footprints and develop practical strategies for reducing digital waste.

Students will be able to: explain the concept of a digital carbon footprint; evaluate information from reliable online sources; propose practical ways to reduce digital waste; create and present a digital awareness campaign; use appropriate B2-level vocabulary related to sustainability and technology.

Introduction: What Is the Invisible Cloud?

Students discuss their daily online habits in pairs and consider whether activities such as streaming videos, sending emails, using AI tools, or storing files in the cloud have an environmental impact. They share their ideas with the class and predict which activities might produce the most pollution (e.g. streaming, storing thousands of emails, frequent AI queries).

Research

Students research Internet Pollution and Digital Carbon Footprints. They investigate how digital activities generate CO₂ emissions, the role of data centres, the energy consumption of AI, latent pollution caused by stored emails, and the environmental impact of streaming versus downloading. They collect at least three interesting statistics and record their sources (e.g., "Data centres consume about 1–2% of the world's electricity.").

Cause – Impact – Solution

Students organise their findings into three categories: Cause – How do digital activities create pollution? (e.g., streaming, cloud storage, AI prompts) Impact – What are the environmental consequences? (e.g., energy consumption, carbon emissions, increasing demand for data centres) Solution – What can students do to reduce digital waste? (e.g., delete unnecessary emails, empty the recycle bin, lower streaming quality, unsubscribe from newsletters, clean cloud storage).

Designing a poster/an infogrphic

Students use Canva or another digital tool to create an infographic or poster. Their product must include a definition of Internet Pollution, at least three facts or statistics, an explanation of causes and impacts, and five or more Digital Hygiene Tips. They use concise text, icons, images, and a consistent visual style. All sources must be cited. Check the checklist.

Oral Presentation

Students present their digital campaign to the class. They begin with a surprising fact, explain the problem, present evidence from their research, and conclude with a call to action encouraging classmates to adopt more sustainable digital habits (e.g., "Delete ten unnecessary emails today!"). Teacher uses rubrics to assess oral presentation (in the materials).

Reflection

Students reflect on what they have learned and write one personal commitment to reduce their digital carbon footprint (e.g., "I will clean my cloud storage once a month." or "I will lower video quality when watching tutorials.").

This learning scenario is used to mark Safer Internet Day.