TalkTimeTalkTime and the environment
Historical estimates below are scenarios based on the dated sources cited, not measured TalkTime results. They do not establish current CO2 savings, revenue or lives saved.
TALKTIME, a green app? 🌳
TalkTime is an app based on innovation in usage and a focus on using less, with an experience comparable to a social network, but offline , and therefore with a small carbon footprint .
As an initial estimate, limited-duration calls could reduce phone time by at least one minute per person each day.
Browsing contacts like an offline social network means that TalkTime could reduce social media use by ten minutes per person each day.
This represents approximately 20 kg for phone calls plus 10 kg for social networks: 30 kg of CO2 per person per year !
Nationwide, with 50 million adult mobile users, that would mean approximately 1 + 0.5 = 1.5 MILLION TONNES of CO2 per year in France (equivalent to 67 million green euros).
Worldwide, with five billion adult mobile users, these few minutes less per day would represent 150 MILLION TONNES of CO2 per year! Equivalent to 6.7 billion green euros!
Converting between kWh and CO2 gives 15 million MWh per year in France and therefore 1.5 billion MWh per year worldwide !
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Viewed more grimly, that would represent more than 34,000 annual deaths caused by CO2 worldwide that could be avoided through daily use of TalkTime !
See 1 min on the phone = 25,000 lives and 10 min on social networks = 10,000 lives… .
Sources:
- https://www.ginjfo.com/espace-environnement/green-it/science-et-technologie/telephone-portable-1-minute-de-conversation-cest-57-grammes-de-co2-20100615
- https://greenspector.com/fr/reseaux-sociaux-2021/
- https://www.compteco2.com/article/pourquoi-un-prix-au-co2
- https://greenit.fr/2009/04/24/combien-de-co2-degage-un-1-kwh-electrique
- https://www.futura-sciences.com/sante/actualites/vie-tonnes-carbone-faut-il-tuer-personne-81616/
- https://alliancegreenit.org/impact-environnemental-d-un-appel-telephonique-1-a-1-d-une-m
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Details of the phone-call equivalent calculation:
Assuming this minute of calling is equivalent to 57 g of CO2.
If each tonne of CO2 avoided generates 44.60 green euros, then:
€44.60/tonne = 4.46 cents/kg = 0.254 cents/minute of a mobile call!
Over a year, that means 0.93 green euros per person for one minute of calling per day.
Worldwide, if 1% of the population used TalkTime, this would generate:
0.93 × 77 million people = 71 million green euros per year.
That figure would rise to seven billion green euros for ten minutes per person per day and 10% of the population!
This excludes rising carbon prices, which the source above projects at 100 green euros per tonne by 2030.
Details of the social-network equivalent calculation:
Assuming one minute of TikTok is equivalent to 2.63 g of CO2 (source above),
over a year, that means 0.43 green euros per person for ten minutes of TikTok per day.
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Updated on 6 October 2026. TalkTime editorial answers replace the earlier AI-generated responses; they are not quotes or endorsements from Google or OpenAI.
TalkTime, a frugal innovation?
TalkTime aims to make better use of existing phones and communication channels: coordinate availability and help manage call duration. This describes a design approach, not an environmental certification.
A shorter call does not automatically establish a proportional reduction in network energy use or carbon emissions. A product-specific assessment would need to define the usage, devices, networks and comparison scenario.
Some contact features operate locally; meeting coordination and WhatsApp require Internet access. Automatic hang-up is a Premium option on compatible Android devices. On iPhone, users end the call themselves.
