Today, Norwegians are encouraged to think about throwing away their digital waste. Data storage requires large amounts of energy, explains Erik Gjesdal, of the technology company Schneider Electric, in a press release.
The ever-increasing digitalization of society leads to increased energy consumption and increased carbon emissions. Saturday, March 16, is Digital Cleanup Day to raise awareness of the environmental impact of the digital industry. If you're already planning this year's spring cleaning in the home and garden, it's also time to do spring cleaning in the digital world – and small, simple measures can make a difference.
Data storage is a good example of something that requires huge amounts of energy. I don't think Norwegians necessarily realize that having thousands of photos and videos stored on a phone or an inbox full of final emails actually makes up part of our climate footprint, says Erik Gisdal, director of the data center sector at Schneider Electric.
In a British study from 2021, it was found that stored phone data corresponds to more than ten kilograms of carbon emissions per person every year. So Gijsdal encourages us to do digital cleaning, as deleting digital photos, programs and documents that we no longer need will reduce the amount of energy used.
– Here in Norway, there are many of us interested in making climate-smart choices, and in any case, it's good to know that with the help of just a few keystrokes, you can help reduce some of the amount of digital waste we have. All men leave, he says, and it's just a matter of moving on.
Four simple tips to reduce digital waste:
1. Uninstall apps you don't use
– Clean apps you have downloaded. If there are any apps that you rarely use – or perhaps will never use again, it's easy to uninstall and remove the app.
2. Remove downloaded content
– Many of us have downloaded movies, podcast episodes, or series. If it's seen or heard, or if you don't intend to benefit from it, it's best to delete it.
3. Delete photos and videos you don't need
– With easy access to the camera on the phone, we take a lot of photos, which for many leads to a full camera view. Many photos we rarely look at again, so they can be removed without losing them.
4. Get rid of emails you no longer need
– During the work week, we send and receive a lot of emails. Feel free to check your email. Maybe you find emails from long ago that you no longer need, or maybe there are a number of incomplete emails as drafts that you can simply remove.
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