Ukrainian initiative on the forefront of digital cleanup: reducing carbon footprint and combating global warming

Every bad photo you keep on your phone for years, every online meeting that could have been an email, every TikTok hangout session produces CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Rubryka spoke to Yuliia Markhel, co-founder of the international movements Let's do it World and School Recycling World, leader of the All-Ukrainian youth movement Let's do it Ukraine, coordinator of the World Cleanup Day in Ukraine, and learned more about digital cleanup, how critical it is and how simple digital hygiene will help free up your digital and living space and slow down global warming.

What is the problem?

Today, the Ukrainian environment suffers from the terrible consequences of Russia's ecocide. According to experts' estimates, 120 million tons of greenhouse gases were released into the environment during the year of the full-scale war. This is almost equivalent to the annual volume of emissions of Belgium. This included both direct emissions from hostilities and fires caused by them, as well as the reconstruction of what was destroyed by Russia. The war is still going on — just imagine what those numbers could be when Ukraine finally defeats the Russian onslaught.

What is the solution?

To unite and strongly reduce the pollution released into the atmosphere to keep the Ukrainian and global environment clean for future generations. Digital clean-up is a modern and safe online format of caring for nature that everyone can join. Like physical pollutants, digital programs and files create environmentally hazardous waste. In addition, we should not forget that digital hygiene is also our cyber security.

Yuliia Markhel, co-founder of the international movements Let's do it World and School Recycling World, leader of the All-Ukrainian youth movement Let's do it Ukraine, coordinator of the World Cleanup Day in Ukraine, helped Rubryka to learn more about digital cleaning.

How does it work?

Make nature and your gadgets cleaner

Digital cleanup — start it now!

Digital Cleanup is a simple and effective tool for reducing your personal and organizational carbon footprint: by deleting unnecessary files, unused programs, duplicate photos, and video materials, as well as using digital services wisely, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint. Moreover, it helps people believe that they can also contribute significantly to the prevention of climate change and can also be an impetus for other environmental habits.

Digital Cleanup was launched by Let's Do It World in 2020. The first Digital Cleanup Day took place on Earth Day, April 22, 2020, and the second in March 2021. People from 106 countries and 500 companies deleted more than 500,000 GB of data. This action made it possible to eliminate 625,000 kg of CO2 emissions. Both ordinary users and several large digital, electronic, and telecommunications companies joined the campaign. In 2023, the All-Ukrainian youth movement Let's do it Ukraine called for using Digital Cleanup as a cleaning that can be carried out in front-line areas, in shelters, during work trips, etc., to develop a new useful habit even during war and to do it daily.

"In general, digital cleanup aims to help people rethink their digital habits and impact on climate change, develop digital hygiene skills to reduce wasteful digital practices, and thereby contribute to reducing climate warming. That is, thanks to digital cleaning, we aim to develop a useful five-minute habit in people. After all, such a simple step as, for example, deleting files or photos will lead to a wider understanding that everyone's actions matter," says the movement leader Yuliia Markhel.

Basic principles of digital cleanup

Digital cleaning checklist.

Digital cleaning has several types. It can be a simple five-minute daily routine: clean the phone, computer, mail — all the unnecessary things accumulated during the day. For this, Let's do it Ukraine has created a special digital cleaning checklist. You can use it to make cleaning as efficient as possible and speed up the process.

Step 1. E-mail.

Check the mailbox size.
Cancel all unnecessary subscriptions and notifications.
Delete old junk emails.
Clean out your spam folder.

Step 2. Smartphone.

Check the amount of memory.
Remove unnecessary programs.
Clear app cache and data.
Delete redundant files, unnecessary images, duplicates, and screenshots.

Step 3. Computer.

Browser: delete history, unnecessary bookmarks, and applications.
Remove unnecessary programs through the control panel.
Clean your device's cache.
Delete unnecessary photos, files, documents, and downloads.

Step 4. New good habits.

Keep files in the cloud in one place so you don't have to keep the same file on every device.
Make small changes to your internet habits, such as limiting your time on social media.

Below is an even more extensive instruction, where various applications, ways to clean them, and additional tasks are collected. You should clear YouTube subscriptions, delete unnecessary chats in messengers, and try at least one day without a phone in your hands to enjoy a walk or a delicious meal.

Detailed instructions for digital cleaning. Image: Let's do it Ukraine

There are also options for general digital cleaning — both individual and corporate. Let's do it Ukraine emphasizes that special attention should be paid to digital cleaning for large businesses, organizations, or corporations because they accumulate a huge amount of digital waste throughout their working hours. For example, this year, during World Cleanup Day, when large corporations, media, and educational institutions joined the event, their employees cleaned their servers, computers, and phones. Together, they managed to remove 796,389 gigabytes of digital waste, which is 398,194.5 kWh of energy saved per year, and 199,097 kg of CO2 emissions, which will not enter the atmosphere.

"It is important to understand that digital cleaning is also economically beneficial," notes Markhel. When you clean your gadgets, servers, and equipment from everything unnecessary, it extends its life, and the equipment will serve many years longer. Digital cleaning can also be a great idea for team building and help unite employees around a common initiative. And as a result, it will also increase the efficiency of employees. After all, digital cleaning has a positive psychological effect. During such cleaning, we also organize our files, documents, and letters, which helps us focus more on important matters.

Will it work for sure?

What can one person do in five minutes

Most people are accustomed to believing that the digital world is separate from the physical world and has no real influence on it. Sending an email, taking a photo, streaming a video, creating a file, backing it up — every digital activity consumes energy and releases CO2, contributing to global warming. Trillions of photos and videos are created annually, most of which will be forgotten. While these individual actions may seem to have a small impact, collectively, their impact is enormous. Everything stored on your computer consumes memory and energy, producing CO2.

If we turn to statistical data, experts estimate that 90% of digital information created in the world is actually digital waste, that is, information produced that is not used. These are all hundreds of bad photos, spam emails, old, unnecessary documents, and other junk.

In addition, many files can slow down the computer, especially if stored on the desktop. Sorting, cleaning, and deleting files will free up your computer's space and improve its performance. Deleting data on your computer or phone is the key to extending the life of the device itself. The more free space on the computer, the less it will slow down, and the more often it will be able to update the software and operating system necessary for its proper operation.

Extending the service life of gadgets is beneficial not only for device owners but also for the entire Earth since the production of new equipment accounts for 78% of the carbon footprint. In addition, data from the cloud is stored in data processing centers, which in turn also consume enormous amounts of energy.

Moreover:

One employee spending 15 hours in online meetings with the camera on creates monthly 9.4 kg of CO2 emissions. Turning off video would save the same carbon dioxide emissions as charging a smartphone every night for three years (1,151 days).

Food will be no less tasty if it is cooked without a TV. The photo is illustrative

Watching movies or videos, which account for the largest share of Internet traffic — 60% — emits 300 million tons of CO2 per year, about 1% of global emissions. The carbon footprint of the internet and support systems is about 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, equal to the amount produced by the world's aviation industry! Remember these facts when you turn on a movie or TikTok just like that, in the background, while you cook something in the kitchen or do other things.
In addition, a large share of emissions is due to unnecessary e-mails, for example, when we simply send a "Thank you" in response. Our politeness can affect air pollution. For comparison, one study calculated that if every resident of Great Britain sent one less thank-you note, it would be equivalent to more than 81,000 individual flights from London to Madrid.

"Personally, I always use the principles of digital cleaning," shares Markhel. "Once a week is a must. This is especially cool to do on trips when you don't know what to do on the road, and there is no connection. If possible, I do not turn on the camera during online meetings, but, of course, there are times when it is impossible. Also, a good life hack if you like to watch movies or series: to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, you can simply reduce the quality of the video a little, and this will also have a positive effect."

Even more useful solutions!

Have you cleaned your gadgets yet? Help your relatives, friends, acquaintances, and work colleagues to join digital cleaning.

We all look through old photos and videos from time to time. There used to be albums for this, but now everything is in electronic format. So spend time with your family, review old media files, reminisce about good times together, and delete all the junk simultaneously.
Every community is hundreds and thousands of people who produce digital waste every day, which eventually accumulates. Similarly, many enterprises in the territory of communities can produce a large amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. Ideally, the digital cleaning process should be coordinated and centralized so that every community understands its negative environmental impact and takes steps to reduce it. During World Cleanup Day this year, hundreds of communities joined the digital cleanup. But for our environment to be cleaner, waiting for some special day once a year is not necessary. Print and post the digital cleaning guide at local post offices, schools, libraries, cafes, and youth hubs to make as many people aware of this simple and affordable eco-initiative as possible.
For heads of organizations to be able to tell their employees about digital cleaning, the Let's do it Ukraine movement created a special guide for corporate participants. Also, if necessary, movement coordinators can conduct lectures and workshops on digital cleaning.

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