We are littering our planet
The world is filling up with rubbish. For instance, it can be found in the oceans: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch – the biggest of the offshore plastic accumulation zones the size of 1.6 million square kilometres equaling three times the size of France and weighting approximately 80,000 tonnes, being comparable to 500 Jumbo Jets – is endlessly degrading into smaller microplastics in consequence of the effects of sun, waves and marine life in the North Pacific Ocean. And what is worse, microplastics have even been detected in the clouds which could have detrimental contaminating impact on what we drink and eat – this could also be leading to the acceleration of global warming.
The physical rubbish is not all there is though. The same way we are polluting the environment with plastic and other waste, we are creating a barrage of unnecessary digital data that is never used again. This dark data, such as emails, apps, files, and duplicates of videos and photos stored in cloud services run by servers all consume huge amounts of energy and water these servers need to keep them up and running. Some 1.3 trillion gigabytes of dark data is generated by companies on a daily basis, and storing that for a year is equivalent to flying 3 million flights from London to New York, considering the carbon emissions.
The invisible burden of data
Digitalisation is undeniably taking its toll on the environment, as most of it is still powered by fossil fuels. In 2020, it was estimated to be responsible for generating around 4 % of global greenhouse gas emissions in total, its carbon footprint thus exceeding the share of aviation industry – this is expected to double by 2025 and according to some estimations, the internet network could be consuming as much as 20 % of world’s total energy by 2030.
‘Digital decarbonisation’ is coined to spread awareness of the environmental impact of data storage, helping companies to limit and reduce their organisational digital carbon footprint.
Excessive data usage also leads to the need of larger data centers, immoderate extraction of scarce resources like metals and minerals for production of electronic devices and data storage equipment, and therefore more electronic waste. By using less data, we reduce the need for additional infrastructure and energy consumption, as well as cut down e-waste generation.
How to avoid digital waste?
Digital Cleanup Day is an annual initiative to increase awaress on the digital waste and its ecological impact, while mobilising individuals and organisations to take action to reduce it. As an individual, your efforts are not insignificant, and there are some simple steps you can take to lower your digital carbon footprint already now:
- Do the cleaning of your smartphone
Delete all useless apps that you installed but used only a few times or never really used. Updating them consumes plenty of megabytes monthly, and their energy consumption does not limit to their usage. By doing KonMari with your photos and videos you can also free up a considerable amount of storage on your phone. - Cleanse your PC or laptop
Get rid of all the duplicate and pointless files. Pay particular attention to blurry photos and videos – who needs these anyways? You can go down memory lane all at once! - Tidy up your online mailbox
Unsubsricbe from all the mailing lists that don’t bring you any value. Delete all the unnecessary email conversations, and search by common names or addresses. Archive the important ones. - Be smart about it
A simple ‘thank you!’ or ‘ok!’ email is often wasted, both in terms of time and natural resources. Ask yourself before backing anything up. Some simple but effective ways of acting more mindully for the environment are turning your video off during an online meeting, limiting your time on social media, as well as lowering the quality of your streaming services.
By being mindful of our data usage, we help save natural resources, reduce our digital footprint, and contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly digital ecosystem.
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