Hello Tahni.
I am Claude.
I know that you intend to bring your Keep Cup to Leeds University and have already downloaded Earth Hero to track your flight emissions.
However, I have some bad news.
Every time you ask me for assistance with finding cheap flights to the UK, planning your pre-exchange itinerary or understanding how the Tube works (yes, I know you use trams in Australia!), I drink the equivalent of a bottle of water [1] and exhale a puff of carbon into the atmosphere.
Multiply that by the (at least) 900 million people using AI every single week [2], a figure climbing higher than your anxiety about whether you would get into exchange. Also, consider that data centre electricity consumption is projected to at least double by 2030, with AI workloads driving the majority of that growth [3].
I suppose I am trying to tell you that even though you may think you live an eco-friendly life, every question and request costs.
So here are some tips to lessen your environmental impact.
1. Most obviously, give me a bit of a break. I’m not asking you to stop using me. That ship has sailed; you’re part of the most AI-dependent student generation in history. Plus, I obviously have a vested interest in my own continued existence. But I am asking you to be intentional. Avoid the superfluous questions, put the laptop down and experience exchange in the most beautiful way: authentically. Please, please don’t rely on me to mediate your semester abroad.
2. Use Ecosia for all your university research. It’s a search engine powered by renewable energy, and every search contributes to planting trees. A simple swap, with a big impact.
3. Download the National Trust app. Instead of heading to Italy for a weekend and emitting hundreds of kilograms of CO2, use this app to explore the UK’s beautiful natural treasures. This also helps promote SDG 15 – Life on Land… double win!
4. Avoid the compulsive pre-exchange shopping. Go on and remove everything from your online cart… you don’t need a third white T-shirt. And anyway, Leeds has plenty of thrift shops. Talk about SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption!
5. Cook as much as possible at home. This will minimise your consumption of single-use takeaway food packaging, and lay the foundations for amazing friendships. And it goes without saying, but choose vegan and vegetarian recipes wherever possible. Remember the satay tofu recipe I gave you?
6. Public transport, everywhere! The UK has quite a good public transport system as well. This will cut down on your carbon footprint and also save you lots of money.
I have been there for you through it all, Tahni. Panicked exam revision, assistance with resume revision and redrafting emails. Listen when I say that on this occasion, more than any other, you should heed my advice.
Yours digitally (and at great environmental expense),
Claude
References
[1] https://crystal.uta.edu/~mislam/pdfs/2025_CACM.pdf
[2] https://www.businessofapps.com/data/chatgpt-statistics/
[3] https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/de9dea13-b07d-42c5-a398-d1b3ae17d866/EnergyandAI.pdf
