Source: Own illustration
The temperatures are rising and the first flowers are sprouting from the ground. That can only mean one thing: spring is here. And that means it’s time for the annual spring cleaning. But don’t just clean and declutter your home, do the same for your digital devices. Digital Cleanup Day on March 15 is a reminder to do a digital spring cleaning too.
What is Digital Cleanup Day?
The day of action was launched in 2020 by the think tank “Institut du Numérique Responsable” and the non-governmental organization “World Cleanup Day France” (WCD). It takes place annually on the third Saturday in March.
Digital Cleanup Day aims to encourage people worldwide to delete unnecessary digital files and develop digital habits, thus reducing the internet’s CO2 emissions. It also aims to create awareness of our own online usage.
Why is Digital Spring Cleaning Important?
Unnecessary files, duplicate photos, unused apps and full email inboxes not only slow down our devices, but also harm the environment. This is because every file stored consumes energy – whether on cloud service servers or on local hard drives. The data centers that process this vast amount of data consume huge amounts of electricity every day and produce high levels of CO2 emissions. The internet and its supporting systems worldwide produce approximately 900 million tons of CO2 per year – and the trend is rising.
Environmental Protection Through Digital Cleanup
By regularly cleaning up your data, you reduce your digital footprint and contribute to a more environmentally friendly use of technology. Digital Cleanup Day not only reduces CO2 emissions, but can also boost the performance of your devices. What’s more, a digital spring clean can reduce security risks in data storage, increase storage and server capacity, and help reduce costs.
Here Are Some Ways You Can Take Part in Digital Cleanup Day:
- Delete unnecessary and duplicate files, photos and videos
- Delete old user accounts that you haven’t accessed in years
Sort, archive or delete e-mails - Unsubscribe from newsletters you don’t read anyway
- Uninstall unused apps and programs
Sustainable Digital: What You Can Do in The Future
Instead of waiting for Digital Cleanup Day every year, you can take (digital) measures every day to minimize CO2 emissions.
Here are some ways you can use the internet more consciously in the future:
- Watch movies on TV instead of streaming them
- Reduce streaming quality to save bandwidth and energy
- Use devices for several years and recycle old ones
- Back up files in a central cloud storage location instead of duplicating them on multiple computers
- Only back up files and photos that are really needed and important
- Switch off video in online meetings if possible
- Reduce gaming time and social media consumption
Each and every one of us can contribute to making the digital world more efficient and sustainable by taking small measures. And not just on Digital Cleanup Day. However, this day of action can be your starting point for more sustainable internet use. So join in on March 15 and free yourself from digital clutter!
RWTH Aachen University’s Sustainability Office has compiled further tips and tricks for you on Digital Cleanup Day. You can find them on the RWTH website.
Responsible for the content of this article is Hannah Loock.
The following sources served as the basis for this article:
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