The Environmental Cost of Building This Course Website

Over the past two days, we have spent approximately 4–5 hours designing course materials, resource directories, discussion prompts, CSV files, and WordPress pages. It is reasonable to ask whether this work has an environmental cost and, if so, whether that cost is justified.

The Short Answer

Yes. Every online activity consumes resources.

This project required:

Electricity to operate data centers and computing hardware.
Water for cooling infrastructure in some data centers.
Energy for internet transmission and storage.
Power for the devices used to create and access the materials.

However, the overall environmental footprint of this project is likely modest when compared to many everyday activities.

What Resources Were Consumed?

Electricity

Large language models run on powerful computer systems housed in data centers. Every interaction requires processing power, memory, networking equipment, and storage systems.

Because we generated primarily text, spreadsheets, and web content, our session consumed substantially less computing power than would be required for generating large numbers of images, videos, or complex simulations.

A rough estimate would place the energy consumption for a project of this size somewhere between a small fraction of a kilowatt-hour and a few kilowatt-hours.

Water

Many data centers use water-based cooling systems to remove heat generated by servers.

Although the exact amount cannot be determined for our specific session, it is reasonable to think of the water footprint as likely ranging from a few cups of water to several liters across the entire project.

This is not insignificant, but it is also far smaller than the water footprint associated with many agricultural and industrial activities.

Carbon Emissions

The carbon footprint depends heavily on the sources of electricity used by the data center.

If electricity comes primarily from renewable energy, emissions may be quite low. If powered by fossil fuels, emissions would be higher.

The total emissions from this project are likely smaller than many common activities such as a long automobile trip, domestic air travel, or extensive video streaming over several days.

A Sociological Perspective

Because this website is designed for a course on deviance and social control, the environmental question itself becomes an interesting sociological issue.

Many technologies involve trade-offs.

Automobiles provide mobility but produce emissions.
Air travel connects people but consumes fuel.
Streaming media offers convenience but requires large amounts of energy.
Artificial intelligence can support learning and productivity while also
consuming computational resources.

Sociologists often ask not only whether a cost exists, but also whether a society considers that cost acceptable relative to the benefits produced.

Was This Use of AI Worth the Cost?

Consider two possible uses of artificial intelligence:

Generating answers to avoid reading, thinking, or learning.
Designing an entire educational resource site that supports critical
thinking, information literacy, and independent learning.

Many people would view the second use as producing substantially greater value for the resources consumed.

In this case, the project resulted in:

A course website.
Multiple educational resource directories.
Discussion assignments.
Critical thinking materials.
Information literacy resources.
Research integrity resources.
Materials that encourage students to learn without depending on AI.

From that perspective, one could argue that the project has educational value that extends far beyond the resources consumed during its creation.

Questions for Students

As you explore this course, consider the following:

Should the environmental costs of AI influence whether we use it?
How should society balance technological innovation and sustainability?
When is AI use educationally beneficial?
When does AI become a substitute