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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Step 2. Smartphone.
Step 3. Computer.
Step 4. New good habits.
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.
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.
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:
"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."
Have you cleaned your gadgets yet? Help your relatives, friends, acquaintances, and work colleagues to join digital cleaning.
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