Don't assume that the new thing is better for the environment than the old thing. This caution comes courtesy of Seagate, a company with a rich history in the old thing, and a study it commissioned, The Decarbonizing Data Report. The précis: solid state drives (SSDs) have a larger carbon footprint that (HDDs).
It concludes:
• SSDs have the highest embodied carbon, both in total and per TB, making it the most carbon-intensive option among the three storage media.
• Hard drives exhibit the least carbon footprint, both in total and on a per-TB basis, offering the most carbon-efficient sustainable storage solution.
• LTO tape shows moderate embodied carbon, but its annual impact is higher than that of hard drives.
It sounds like the paper vs. cotton kitchen towels thing, where the latter seems obviously more sustainable—until you factor in the "hidden" carbon footprint of washing them, and the water gets murky.
