Clean up your digital trash
Earth Points1 
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Description
We tend to think that by going digital, we are doing a great deal for the environment. Of course, by saving paper, we are saving trees from being cut. However, we tend to overlook emissions associated with going digital.
Our electronic devices, the internet, the data servers and cloud services together consume a considerable amount of energy to operate and store all the data. Unfortunately, much of that electricity is still generated by burning polling oil, gas, and coal. It is estimated the internet and its supporting systems could take up to twenty percent of the world's energy by 2030.
Our digital trash, like unnecessary emails, files, images, and videos on data servers, makes up a portion of the polluting emissions. So let's clean up our digital trash! It is a minor impact but also helps us feel more balanced, in control, efficient, and satisfied.
Our electronic devices, the internet, the data servers and cloud services together consume a considerable amount of energy to operate and store all the data. Unfortunately, much of that electricity is still generated by burning polling oil, gas, and coal. It is estimated the internet and its supporting systems could take up to twenty percent of the world's energy by 2030.
Our digital trash, like unnecessary emails, files, images, and videos on data servers, makes up a portion of the polluting emissions. So let's clean up our digital trash! It is a minor impact but also helps us feel more balanced, in control, efficient, and satisfied.
Tips
What counts as digital trash? Basically, anything that is saved in the cloud on a server elsewhere that requires energy to store and access.
Examples of things to clean up:
• Get rid of old photos, videos, or files you no longer need that are synced to cloud storage.
• Do you have old emails you will never need, like spam, deleted, and sent items? See if there is a way to have them automatically deleted, so that maybe only ones from the past year or less often are kept.
• Overall, while this is a positive action to take, it is not a huge impact. If this is not easy to do or remember, do not worry too much about it. If you enjoy this type of tidying up, then go for it!
Examples of things to clean up:
• Get rid of old photos, videos, or files you no longer need that are synced to cloud storage.
• Do you have old emails you will never need, like spam, deleted, and sent items? See if there is a way to have them automatically deleted, so that maybe only ones from the past year or less often are kept.
• Overall, while this is a positive action to take, it is not a huge impact. If this is not easy to do or remember, do not worry too much about it. If you enjoy this type of tidying up, then go for it!
Additional Resources
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/12/digital-carbon-footprint-how-to-lower-electronics/
https://www.trashhack.org/the-ultimate-guide-to-managing-your-digital-waste/
https://www.digitalcleanupday.org/#
https://www.trashhack.org/the-ultimate-guide-to-managing-your-digital-waste/
https://www.digitalcleanupday.org/#
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Photo Credit
Photo by Massimo Botturi on Unsplash