Cost to the Environment
Original work: "Educators' guide to multimodal learning and Generative AI" — Tünde Varga-Atkins, Samuel Saunders, et al. (2024/25) — CC BY-NC 4.0
Adapted for UK Nursing Education by: Lincoln Gombedza, RN (LD)
Last Updated: December 2025
The environmental cost of GenAI is often invisible but significant. As nursing professionals committed to health and wellbeing, understanding and mitigating these environmental impacts is part of our professional responsibility.
The Hidden Energy Costs
Training Models
Massive Consumption: Training GPT-3 consumed ~1,287 MWh—equal to 120 US homes' annual energy.
Water Usage: Data centres drink water. Training one model can consume 700,000 litres for cooling.
Daily Usage
Query Cost: A ChatGPT query uses ~10x more energy than a Google search.
Media Impact: Generating images and video has a drastically higher carbon footprint than text.
Carbon & E-Waste
💨 Carbon Footprint
Direct: 24/7 Data centre operations and cooling.
Indirect: Manufacturing specialized GPUs and transporting equipment globally.
🗑️ E-Waste (Hardware)
Rapid Obsolescence: AI drives demand for powerful new devices, shortening lifecycles.
Disposal: E-waste contains toxic materials and is difficult to recycle responsibly.
Nursing's Responsibility
Platform 2: Promoting health and preventing ill health.
Environmental health is public health. Nurses have a duty to minimize harm, and sustainable practice is part of holistic care.
Mitigation Strategies
For Educators
Conscious AI Use
- Evaluate Necessity: Ask "Is AI the best tool?" before using.
- Efficient Tools: Use smaller models or text-only for simple tasks.
- Optimise: Craft effective prompts to avoid retries. Archive and reuse responses.
Institutional Actions
- Select green providers.
- Monitor AI-related emissions.
For Students
Mindful Consumption
- Reduce: Don't use AI for tasks you can easily do yourself.
- Optimize: Plan prompts to be specific and reduce iterations.
- Stewardship: Maintain devices to extend their lifespan.
Practical Examples
❌ High-Impact (Avoid)
- Using AI for simple factual lookups.
- Generating unnecessary videos/images.
- Replacing hands-on practice with AI sims.
- Constantly upgrading hardware for AI.
✅ Sustainable (Adopt)
- Hybrid: Draft with specific prompts, refine manually.
- Low-Tech: Peer discussion & library resources.
- Share: Distribute AI summaries to the cohort to save everyone regenerating.
Reflection Questions
🌍 Sustainability Check
- Awareness: How much energy does your daily AI use consume?
- Necessity: Which interactions could be replaced with lower-impact alternatives?
- Advocacy: How can you promote green AI in your institution?
Next: Understand Cost to Knowledge and how AI affects learning and retention.