Why make digital services more sustainable?

Climate change is a fact but we can still take steps towards a greener future. Global warming is caused by increased carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Did you know that IT as a whole emits more CO2 than the aviation industry? Making IT more sustainable is therefore an important step towards a more sustainable world.

4.2% of carbon emissions in Europe is caused by IT. IT’s electricity consumption is 9.3% of total European consumption
GreenIT.fr

The public wants both digitalisation and sustainability

Sustainability is important, not only for our own future but for the future of your audiences as well. The current and future cultural audience attaches great importance to access to digital cultural content as well as to sustainability. These target groups expect organisations to be committed to working as sustainably as possible. On the other hand, they also increasingly live in a more digital world and are used to online content and interaction. How do you deal with this?

The green transition and digital transition together are called the ‘twin’ transition. They can strengthen one another but are not automatically attuned to one another.

Wees je bewust van digitale impact

De onzichtbaarheid van ‘de cloud’ is een probleem bij het bewustzijn van milieu-impact. Veel mensen zijn zich nog niet bewust van de voetafdruk die hun activiteiten online hebben. Dat er dag en nacht servers staan te draaien, met hun mails, opslag van fotoarchieven en social media.

“Clear your emails, minimise your cloud, switch off your camera, switch to a lower resolution and only share what’s important, with the relevant people.”
Lija Groenewoud van Vliet and Leanne Wijnsma

As individuals we can start with small changes to our behaviour to increase awareness and reduce our footprint as users of digital services.

10 things you can do to make IT more sustainable

Below you will find 10 steps towards a digital and sustainable organisation: 5 for yourself and 5 for the entire organisation.

You can take the following five steps straightaway!

Check whether your organisation’s website is ‘green-hosted’
Enter the link in a CO2-calculator and find out how sustainable your website is compared to other websites.
Clear your mailbox
Unused mails that are stored on a server cost energy. Are you short on time? Sort your mails according to size and remove the heaviest mails first. Look for online tools that help you gain a better understanding of your personal footprint.
Fewer images
If possible, switch your camera off occasionally during video calls or online meetings to reduce your emissions by up to 94%. Streaming videos in standard resolution rather than HD means using up to 86% less power.
Recycle equipment or pass it on
E-waste has a very serious environmental impact: 54% of IT’s environmental impact occurs during the manufacturing of equipment. 43 million pieces of equipment, such as laptops and mobile phones (both for private and business use), are bought in the Netherlands every year. Think carefully whether you really need that new device and what you will do with your old products, e.g. recycle or pass on to someone else. 84% of old laptops can be recycled.
Use a green search engine
Opt for a sustainable search engine, e.g. a search engine that supports projects that promises to plant trees or collect plastic waste, such as Ecosia, Ocean Hero or Zoekgroen.

The following steps are for you as well as the organisation.

Put together a green (e) team
Get your colleagues together and agree that sustainability will become an inherent value with new projects. Create new rules and plan a joint digital cleanup day for your organisation.
Check whether your organisation has an e-waste policy
What happens to discarded equipment? Are there any possibilities to extend the lifecycle of devices in your organisation? Does the organisation have any policies for recycling and refurbishment of laptops and smart phones?
Deduplicate or reduce the number of files in your digital archive
How many copies of digital files are archived within your organisation and at what resolution? Could they be stored at a lower resolution? Is it legally possible to deduplicate files? Can you reduce the number of files in your archive or digital collection? Is it possible to store part of the archive locally to reduce the need for continuous server activity? Discuss these topics within your team or organisation.

You don’t have a digital archive yet? Read on to find out why an archive is important and how it can help you with process innovation.

Consider data budgets
Imagine there were data budgets that you, as employee, were not allowed to exceed. Where could you make savings? What would be the first thing you would do to ensure you remained within your budget?
Check the IT chain
The entire IT chain needs to join in to achieve effective sustainability. Contact the digital services developers in your organisation. Do they already work in an environmentally friendly way? Does your organisation use a green or grey website hosting provider for digital applications? Is your software developer familiar with ‘green coding’? Perhaps they would like to explain what this is and what the advantages are.

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Voordelen van groene IT

Kostenbesparing door efficiënt gebruik van van energie en apparatuur
Goede SEO maakt jouw website beter vindbaar én vermindert daardoor de uitstoot
Lichtere en kleinere afbeeldingen versnellen de website. Dit is milieuvriendelijker én gebruiksvriendelijker
Je bent voorbereid op duurzaamheidseisen die aan culturele organisaties gesteld zullen worden
Verduurzaming sluit aan bij de verwachtingen van toekomstig cultuurpubliek

Would you like to find out more?

More about the twin transition.
Column Lija Groenewoud van Vliet and Leanne Wijnsma: Think before you post, share or ‘like’
Read all about circular chains for IT hardware.
ABN Amro about sustainability as a purchasing factor.
Read at DEN: Going Digital and keeping it green: here's how!

Else Laura Rademaker is als kennisbeheerder van alle markten thuis, maar richt zich vooral op de ecologische duurzaamheid van digitale cultuur. Haar belangrijkste tips deelt ze hier.