How to reduce your digital carbon footprint

When it comes to living more sustainably, so much of the advice focuses on the material world; drive less, recycle more, ditch disposables, shop ethically, eat seasonally. But what about the impact of our growing dependency on digital everything? Every time we search, stream and subscribe our digital carbon footprint increases – it’s just not as apparent as the coffee cups we’re no longer tossing in the bin.

Servers power our online lives 24/7

It’s great to save natural resources and reduce waste by going paperless wherever possible. But let’s not forget all the information we send, receive and save online relies on huge energy-intensive data centres running and cooling servers every minute of every day.

While tech companies work towards improved efficiency and greener solutions such as renewable energy deals and liquid cooling why not do your bit by reducing the amount of data that’s stored in those data centres? Plus, most of these tips are simply good habits to have if you want to be more organised in your work, study and everyday life.

Cloud storage clean up

Where would we be without files you can access anywhere, anytime? Shared drives help us live and work flexibly and collaborate on projects with ease. Synced backup also gives us assurance that if we drop our device off a cliff or in the toilet our irreplaceable photos and documents won’t be lost forever.

But how many close-ups of your dog’s snoot do you really need? Or unfinished drafts from 2015? To save both space and energy used by data centres, schedule some digital housekeeping and be ruthless with your drive’s bin. Delete duplicates and anything you really don’t need. Many drives including Dropbox, iCloud and Google have duplicate detection tools to help make the purge painless. When you’re done, don’t forget to empty all the clutter from your recycle bin.

Inbox intervention

Most of our inboxes become swamped with unopened newsletters, promotions and daily deals we don’t even recall signing up for. You can lessen the load on data centres by using unsubscribe apps to help speed up the otherwise very manual process of opting out. Look into Unroll.me, Unlistr, Unsubscriber or Leave Me Alone. Your email provider might even prompt you to unsubscribe from senders when it detects you haven’t opened an email from them in a while, which is usually a sign you need to do some digital decluttering.

Also, think about when and how you could send fewer emails of your own. Could this email be a conversation instead? Could this attachment be transferred with a USB flash drive? If not, investigate lightweight transfer software which won’t hold on to files permanently. WeTransfer and Send Anywhere keep the file available for the recipient to download for a limited time before the shared link expires.

Keep tabs on your tabs

The CO2 output of a single search mightn’t be much, but as a society we all do a lot of it, and together it all adds up. One way to curb idle scrolling and excessive screen time is to simply take a technology timeout. We know this is easier said than done, which is why we introduced Optus Pause. If you’re an eligible Optus customer, you can literally press pause on your services in My Optus app to help manage your family’s time online.

When you are online, there’s habits you can form to help consume less unnecessary data, improve device battery life, and become an eco-conscious browser. For example, if your work or study often results in having dozens of windows open at once, use a search engine extension like Tab Suspender to hibernate idling tabs.

Power down

Most of us are guilty of letting our computers idle at the end of the day with apps and tabs open. We also know leaving electronics and appliances switched on at the wall consumes standby power even when we’re not using them. To keep your power usage (and energy bills) down, unplug your laptop any time it’s not charging, and flick your switches at the wall. Adjusting screen brightness, sleep timeout, and power saving settings can also improve energy and battery efficiency too.

Did you know up to 95% of the materials in your dead devices can be recovered and recycled?  Find out how.

Do good with your data

It's so easy to take the internet for granted, but not everyone has regular and reliable access. You can help bridge the digital divide by donating your excess mobile data to people in need. Your data donations could help someone access telehealth, online education, job opportunities, support networks and other vital services. If you’re an eligible Optus customer, find out how you can donate here.

Let’s reduce our eco-impact, together

We’re finding new ways to help create a more sustainable future for Australians. With our latest Living Network feature  Optus Eco, you can take steps to reduce your environmental impact and help offset your carbon footprint.