This Saturday, March 18, is Digital Cleanup Day.

Similar to the physical world, there is a huge amount of trash in the digital world—unnecessary emails, files, apps, duplicates of photos and videos are all digital waste. But why does that matter if it’s just sitting in a cloud or on a server? It’s not like we’re putting all of this in a landfill…

Well, according to a 2021 report, the Internet and its supporting systems produce more than 900 million tons of CO2 per year. In fact, some studies estimate that the Internet network will consume 20% of the world’s total energy by 2030.

“People want to advance sustainability. Part of SAVe‘s mission is to provide guidance on how to do so,” said Kelly Perkins, CTS, marketing director at THE FARM and member of the board of directors at Sustainability in AV (SAVe). “Digital Cleanup Day is a great example of an action everyone can take, but few have even considered it. Who knew that you can reduce C02 emissions by deleting unnecessary and duplicated digital files? Well, now we do—thanks to the organizers of this important event.”

The Digital Cleanup Day website has a handy guide for companies looking to improve their digital footprint. Some of the benefits of participating include improved processes and efficiencies, reduced storage costs, and an extension of the lifespan of IT equipment.

Individuals can also participate in the day, and are encouraged to engage their family, friends, and social networks. Click here to view the guide for individuals.

“While Digital Cleanup Day’s main mission is to help organizations reduce carbon footprint, it also serves as an important reminder for IT, data governance, and data security teams to start keeping tabs on all of their sensitive data in the cloud,” said Amit Shaked, CEO and co-founder of Laminar. Often data security teams are blind to the location, volume and types of sensitive data that lies in the cloud. Not only can unknown data lead to excess costs and digital waste, it can also introduce significant risk.”

He added: “To help reduce carbon footprint and the overall attack surface, organizations must start with complete observability of their data. With new agile and cloud-native tools, enterprises now have the solutions they need to clean up unnecessary data, and to keep up with today’s fast-paced, cloud environment.”

Want to hear more about sustainability efforts in ProAV? 

Join us on April 20 for a free LAVNCH & LEARN, in partnership with Commercial Integrator, where we’ll explore sustainability in ProAV. We’ll also speak with manufacturers like Legrand and PPDS about their sustainability roadmap and what they’re doing to reduce their carbon footprint. Click here to learn more and to register.