The digital revolution has profoundly transformed modes of production in visual arts and graphic design, replacing material-based methods largely with screen-based processes. While this shift has reduced printing and logistical costs and thereby appeared to offer promising potential within sustainability discourses, it has simultaneously generated new ecological burdens, including high energy consumption, accelerated hardware renewal cycles, and the growing problem of electronic waste. The multilayered structure of the digital production ecosystem encompassing hardware manufacturing, data centers, software infrastructures, and cloud storage results in significant carbon emissions due to its reliance on fossil fuel–based energy sources.

The so-called myth of paperless production, which has often been presented as an ecological advantage, proves misleading when the energy-intensive costs of digital infrastructures are taken into account. The processing of high-resolution images, continuous data transfer, and the increasing demands of storage not only diminish but often outweigh the perceived environmental benefits. Moreover, the short lifespan of digital devices and the predominantly informal disposal of electronic waste exacerbate the ecological strain imposed by these processes.

Despite this contradictory landscape, the use of low-energy software, green server solutions, and open-source practices demonstrates that digital art can be reimagined from a sustainability perspective. Projects such as The Wastive, Benefit Game: Alien Seaweed Swarms, GestoBrush, From Green to Red, and Nature Manifesto illustrate both the environmental risks and the potential for ecological awareness embedded in digital artistic practices. In conclusion, digital art production should be regarded neither as a complete environmental solution nor as a singular threat. The essential task is to rethink technological possibilities through integrated strategies such as energy efficiency, the use of renewable resources, and transparent carbon reporting. In this respect, sustainability debates in visual arts must move beyond the notion of material savings and instead embrace an approach grounded in energy consciousness and ethical responsibility.