Tipps and Tricks
To act more sustainably in the digital world as well, we created a list of quick and practical tips and tricks for you.
1. Maintain and use digital devices for a long time: Almost half of digital emissions come from end devices, which in turn produce 50 % of their total emissions (over a device’s lifetime) during manufacturing. One of the strongest leverages for digital sustainability, therefore, is to choose high-quality products with the longest possible lifespan when purchasing new devices. Devices should also be used as long as possible to keep emissions low, reduce raw material extraction, and avoid toxic waste.
2. Put devices to rest or turn them off: Who doesn’t know it?—Often, the laptop is simply closed for convenience, only to be reopened later. While this is convenient, it quickly leads to drained batteries. To save power, it’s worth using sleep mode for short breaks (which consumes even less than automatic standby) and turning off the device completely during longer breaks.
3. Use local storage and avoid unnecessary cloud storage: The “cloud” is not a virtual place, but a very real and physical one: a multitude of data centers that operate around the clock to provide data for their users. These data centers consume large amounts of electricity and water. To save resources here, it’s worth considering which data really need to be stored in the cloud and which can simply remain on your local computer. It also pays off to clean up your drives regularly and delete old data. This is not only more sustainable but also often leads to better clarity, work structure, and improved mental well-being.
4. Regularly clean out email inboxes: Every day, a two-digit number of emails is sent. These consume energy when being sent and when being stored, which nowadays mostly happens on large cloud servers. As with the previous point, regularly cleaning your email inbox can improve sustainability, mental well-being, and personal productivity.
5. Choosing the right digital tools: In the past two years, a wide range of AI tools has emerged, offering many different uses. However, these often consume large amounts of energy—for example, an AI search consumes around 10–20 times more energy than a conventional web search, depending on the model. It’s therefore worth consciously asking yourself when you truly need an AI tool and when a classic alternative might be sufficient.
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