September 22, 2021 ZINE: The Cost of Convenience Author(s): MCTD Cambridge 'The Cost of Convenience' zine centrefold imagery, designed by Christopher Goggs We reached out across several academic fields to challenge an international group of experts with the task of writing a provocation on the impact that digital technology has on the environment. This report is the result of The Cost of Convenience, the first workshop convened by the Minderoo Centre of Technology and Democracy in June 2021. We reached out across several academic fields to challenge an international group of experts with the task of writing a provocation on the impact that digital technology has on the environment, pushing otherwise careful academics to enter into speculation, critique, exchange, and dialogue in order to bring transparency to this opaque issue. We quickly discovered a need for bridging across several distinct and siloed conversations and across the problems of media infrastructures, the tech sector’s environmental impact and the potential harms of our digital information environment our natural environments. We found a need to scope new research on tech’s environmental impact and a need for collaborative and international efforts to identify areas that require immediate action and research. What you are reading is the first step in this process. Like the ‘zines’ of the Punk Rock era that inspired our report’s style, we also see our work as a provocation for you to join us in continuing. These provocations are a fitting start for us at the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, because we see our main goal as supporting the democratic values in everyday digital technologies. We hope that we can inspire you, too, to begin new ways of challenging the cost of convenience with us.