Our experiment reveals that the “green” reputation of adblockers is not a universal truth, but a conditional one. While uBlock Origin serves as a powerful tool for sustainability on ad-heavy platforms, its computational cost of filtering can increase your carbon footprint on cleaner websites. The data clearly shows that Firefox is the best option for efficient extension management, whereas Chrome users may involuntarily trade battery life for a cleaner UI.

Ultimately, for the modern web user, the path to a lower energy footprint isn’t through “set and forget” settings, but through intentional browsing and adjusting of extension settings. By whitelisting ad-light sites and choosing browsers with efficient environments, we can ensure that our efforts to have a sustainable web don’t end up costing more than the ads themselves.