Digital Cleanup
Empower individuals and organizations to reduce their digital footprint through practical workshops and with measurable impact.
The Digital Cleanup initiative aims to reduce the environmental footprint of the data we store online, whether in cloud drives, email inboxes, corporate storage systems, or collaboration platforms.
Although digital information feels intangible, its ecological impact is significant: the digital sector already represents around 8% of global CO2 emissions, and this footprint is increasing rapidly as cloud infrastructures and AI systems expand.
Every file stored online requires servers to operate continuously: running, cooling, backing up, and replicating data. In other words, if something is stored today, it keeps polluting tomorrow, next year, and indefinitely.
So, what do we do with this, and how do we act?
What do we do:
We organize interactive Digital Cleanup workshops that:
raise awareness about the environmental impact of digital storage;
teach participants how to measure the size and growth of their digital footprint;
provide a step-by-step methodology to clean up data;
proceed with data clean up;
provide sustainable digital practices to reduce the data consumption on an ongoing base.
The current workshop targets Google Workspace (Drive, Gmail, Photos). New versions are in development for iOS systems and Microsoft SharePoint.
Why It Matters:
The ecological impact of digital storage remains widely underestimated:
Online data consumes energy every day simply to stay reachable.
The data volume is growing exponentially.
AI technologies require massive storage infrastructures.
Unlike many sustainability actions, reducing stored data has an immediate, measureable and long term environmental impact.
A digital cleanup significantly reduces long-term carbon emissions, and we believe that this impact can be scaled up rapidly.
Immediate and transparent KPIs
One of the initiative strength is that its impact can be measured clearly and objectively.
After each workshop, we track:
Total data deleted (GB/TB)
CO2 emissions avoided this year
Projected emissions avoided in future years
These metrics are based on direct measurements, with no approximations or qualitative indicators.
Next steps
We aim to scale this initiative across Switzerland and globally by:
training new facilitators in additional Global Shapers hubs;
expanding our workshop library (iOS, SharePoint);
partnering with companies or public institutions;
building a global community committed to reducing digital waste.
Our long-term goal: reduce digital waste at scale and generate immediate, recurring environmental benefits.
Join or contact us:
We welcome collaborators, shapers and volunteers who wish to:
host workshops internally;
become Digital Cleanup facilitators;
contribute to resource creation;
partner on scaling the initiative;
share data and success stories.
