Your binge-watching habit may be killing the Earth

By Matt Hoffman, Buzz60

If you thought that binge-watching Netflix was a harmless way to pass the time, think again.

Greenpeace has released a new report claiming that streaming video services can be bad for the environment–and Netflix is one of the worst offenders.

According to tech company Cisco, videos account for 63% of global internet traffic, and that proportion is only expected to grow.

The servers that provide those videos can burn through a whole lot of energy, which is a problem if that energy isn't being drawn from safe and renewable sources.

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And Greenpeace's energy footprint scorecard assigned Netflix a D grade, saying the streaming giant provided little data on its energy consumption and relied too heavily on so-called "dirty energy" like coal.

If you're thinking of switching to Hulu, not so fast: That company received an F on the scorecard, while competitor Amazon Prime did somewhat better with a C.

If you want to stream green, you'll have to head over to the only video service to receive an A: YouTube.

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