Binge watching is how most of us watch TV these days. It’s the best way! But it has one big drawback. You guessed it, it causes a ton of emissions but not from the people watching directly. The data centers that the shows are housed in.

Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube generate emissions from the massive amounts of energy that they use. The end user (us) does better on energy us with our laptops and new TVs vs the giant sets of yore and watching practices of yesteryear, but the companies giving us that sweet, sweet content or creating massive energy drains.

There’s no simple answer as to what to do. One thing is turning off the play automatically feature. That will lessen the effects of course that would also likely lead to less profits for certain outlets. Just something to keep in mind next time the next must see show drops.