Information communication technologies (ICT), including the internet and perhaps the device you are using to read this, are ubiquitous. Computational techniques such as machine learning, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, are rarely thought about in terms of their environmental impacts yet are becoming increasingly embedded into scientific endeavour. The case is often made that the value of these technologies to society outweighs their impacts, or even that such impacts are not growing but are offset by decarbonisation and the energy efficiency gains of ICT’s application to other sectors. But what is the reality? And should environmental scientists concern themselves with this?