Digital Cleanup Day is a symbolic day to remember that digital is not zero impact. In fact, digitalisation is not always synonymous with sustainability. The advantages of digital include the drive towards a circular economy, with dematerialisation, less waste of resources and optimised processes. While it has some disadvantages due to the physical components that have to be extracted, produced and disposed of at the end of their life, and the software components; which require large amounts of energy to function properly.
The more environmentally conscious use of digital, through the reduction of its carbon footprint, is a key goal of the European 2030 Agenda.
Myths to dispel
Although usually in a company’s environmental balance sheet, the focus is on the carbon footprint of e-mail and data storage, in reality the carbon footprint is mainly due to the purchase of a large number of digital devices.
In fact, it is estimated that email globally could account for up to 150 million tonnes of CO2, only 0.3% of the world’s carbon footprint; while greenhouse gas emissions related to digital technology account for 3.7% globally. This impact is mainly due to the depreciation of computer and smartphone manufacturing (the total carbon footprint of the equipment divided by the number of minutes of use over its lifetime) and the misuse of equipment (2 or even 3 screens per workstation, tablets, connected objects, etc.). These two aspects of the production chain are also strongly impacted. The first concerns the metal extraction process, while the second is the operation of data centres, which are often still powered by fossil fuels.
Furthermore, actions that seem seemingly harmless, in reality are not. One hour of video can emit up to 400 g of CO2e. During a video conference, out of 5 hours of online meetings, the difference between keeping the video camera on or off is equivalent to saving 1 year’s nightly charging of a smartphone. This is why it is important to focus not only on the carbon footprint of e-mails and data storage but, above all, on the responsible use of digital equipment and the extension of its life.
Digital Cleanup Day: how to contribute
Digital Cleanup Day is celebrated on 18 March and you can participate by registering on the official page: https://www.digitalcleanupday.org/
Some actions to take are:
- Clean up your devices by deleting duplicate files or files that are no longer needed.
- Sort photos, delete duplicates and blurred ones.
- Delete watched or unnecessary video files.
- Archive important files, including e-mails.
- Unsubscribe from newsletters you do not read.
- Remove all apps you haven’t used in a while or that you only use a few times.
- Delete all apps you no longer use.
- They consume power even when not in use and can consume hundreds of megabytes of data per month for updates.
Beyond this initiative, there are other actions that help promote more sustainable digital. Specifically:
Prioritise the purchase of refurbished electronic equipment
Desktops and Laptops | HP, DELL, LENOVO, FUJISTU | – eco-network | Reconditioned Hardware Guaranteed and New for your business is the first Italian company on the B2B market in the sale of reconditioned products. Keep it in mind before buying a new device.
Give a second life to digital devices
Adopt a company policy to extend the life of your digital equipment. After a few years, sell your devices to a refurbishment company to give them a second life or donate them to associations. For example, Close The Gap – Help us bridge the digital divide! collects equipment donations from European companies to bridge the digital divide. This can help implement the action globally.
Properly dispose of devices that cannot be resold or donated
There is a specific separate collection for this waste. You have to take them to municipal ecological islands that are dedicated to the disposal of WEEE: there are more than 3600 of them throughout Italy. Alternatively, you could deliver WEEE to shops selling electrical and electronic items, not only specialised outlets, but also supermarkets.
Take small daily actions to decrease your carbon footprint
- Use the energy-saving mode for all your activities
- Prefer WLANs instead of mobile networks.
- Power yourself with a mix of renewable energy (photovoltaic, hydroelectric, wind, biomass)
- Play tracks as audio files instead of streaming them as videos on YouTube or watching the video at a lower resolution.
- In e-mail communications, delete the history, avoid replying to everyone by carefully choosing the recipient and avoid attachments. Favour sharing via Cloud, WeTransfer or similar.
