Many people today are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint to help protect the environment. At the same time, many people are looking for ways to protect their privacy and share less information with Google. This guide is designed to help you share less information with Google which will also reduce your carbon footprint. This is how to reduce your Google carbon footprint.
Google provides numerous services and is ubiquitous with what many people consider the modern Internet. The fact that when someone looks up information they are “googling” that information shows how embedded Google is in our daily lives. In using Google, we are not only sharing information about ourselves but we are causing computers around the world to store and analyze that information about us. Multiplied times billions of users, this consumes a lot of electricity and resources which causes our carbon footprint to increase. The less information that you share, the smaller your carbon footprint.
Google considers its users to be their product. They provide a service to users for seemingly free but then sell our information or information about us to others. They may not name users directly, but they can share information about us and that might be a concern for some and they are left wondering how they can share less information with Google and how to reduce their carbon footprint.
How to reduce your Google Carbon Footprint
The first step in reducing your Google carbon footprint is reducing how much information that you share with Google. Without the information, you’re not making data centers around the world store and analyze your information.
Change your default search engine
Google is not the only search engine you can use to search for information or news stories. It’s typically set as your default search engine when browsers such as Chrome are first installed. Your first step in reducing the amount of information is to change the default search engine.
In Chrome, click on the three dots in the upper right and select Settings. About half way down you’ll see a setting entitled Search engine. Select that. In the menu, we recommend that you select DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo will give you the same results that you get with Google but DuckDuckGo doesn’t save or sell any of your information. None of your information will carry over from site to site. It’s much more private.
Change your browser
Google’s Chrome browser isn’t the only browser and you can use anyone you choose. We recommend that you try Firefox. Firefox has been around for longer than Chrome and is dedicated to being a fast and secure browser ensuring your privacy. Chrome use, regardless of the Website you are on, means sharing information with Google. If you use Firefox, none of your information or the Websites you go to is shared with Google.
Firefox is available on the Desktop and on mobile devices. To install it on your desktop, visit https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/. To install it on your mobile device, search for Firefox Browser in your app store.
The best part of using Firefox along with all the privacy is that all your usernames and passwords as well as bookmarks and history are shared between devices.
Change your email client
Many people use Gmail for their email. Gmail allows a user to have easy access to all their email accounts in one place but it’s not the only way that you retrieve your email. A more private way would be to use another email client like Thunderbird. It’s another way to reduce the information that you share with Google.
Thunderbird is available on both desktops and mobile devices. It can even connect to Google so you can see and send email that you otherwise would access through your Gmail client.
It’s important to note that as long as you use an @gmail.com account, Google will have access to your email. However, by using another client to access it, they won’t know where you are and other related information such as how you use your browser with Gmail. It might be a good to consider using another email service like Proton. Proton provides end to end encryption of your email and none of your information is shared with anyone. As we’ve said, the less information you share, the smaller your carbon footprint.
Use another map service
Google Maps isn’t the only way to navigate around the world. By using Google Maps you tell Google everywhere you go, the places you visit and how long you stay there. There are alternatives such as CoMaps that provide maps and directions. Using CoMaps will greatly reduce the information that you are sharing with Google.
CoMaps is available through your phones app store.
Watch Videos through Other Services
Many people are not aware that YouTube is part of Google. Everytime you watch a video, you are sharing tons of information with Google. All of that information needs to be stored and deep analyzed so that it can be sold to buyers who want to know about you. That takes CPU and memory storage in data centers around the world, increasing your carbon footprint. If you want to share less information with Google and reduce your carbon footprint, you need to find an alternative to YouTube. Here’s a few suggestions to watch videos that doesn’t involve sharing information with Google.
Vimeo
Vimeo is a YouTube alternative that provides higher quality videos from content creators. Videos are more in-depth and a higher quality than YouTube. This means that you are sharing less information for Google to use and that is our goal. You get a higher quality product and reduce your carbon footprint at the same time.
DailyMotion
DailyMotion has been around for about as long as YouTube and features similar content. DailyMotion is also good for content creators. It features a wide range of content and instead of subscribing to channels you follow them. It’s not based in the U.S. and has a global reach much like YouTube. It’s another choice to avoid sending information to Google.
FreeTube
If you need to use YouTube and do not want to share your data with Google, a desktop app such as FreeTube are the only way to go. FreeTube is available for Windows and Mac computers. It is not available for Android or iPhone’s unfortunately. FreeTube shows YouTube videos but let’s you keep all of your information to yourself. More privacy means less sharing of information with Google.
Use a different service for authentication
Many apps require that you sign in to use the service. Many times they offer integration with your Google login as well as other services. By using your Google login, you are both allowing the app access to all of your information with Google as well as giving tons of information to Google. The best practice would be to just create a login directly with the app but f you cannot do that, try to use another service besides Google.
One suggestion would be to use a Microsoft login. A Microsoft login is needed to login for Windows 11 computers so many people have them. Another option would be to create a Yahoo! account. Yahoo! has been around longer than Google and while they provide many similar services, they would not have nearly as much information about you and the less information the better.
Deny Cookies
Websites need to ask your permission before saving cookies on your local device. Cookies allow companies like Google to track you even if you’re not using a Google site. This is how they are able to see what you shop for and what your interests are. Many people feel that they need to accept cookies but the truth is, you can deny them. This is another way to reduce the information and data that you send to Google and can lower your carbon footprint.
Conclusion
We’ve shared many ways that you can reduce the information that you share with Google and still do all the things that you normally would do in a modern connected world. By reducing the information that you share with Google, you also reduce your carbon footprint. We’ve shown that all the information that you share with Google needs to be stored and analyzed so they can sell it to make the money to provide their services. It doesn’t need to be that way and in a privacy conscious world, thankfully there are alternative.
We hope that this guide was useful and that you check out our other Guides and services.
