Digital Cleanup Day Returns 21 March – Start Preparing Today!
Clear your digital clutter, reduce your environmental impact
Digital waste is invisible, but its impact is real. Every unused file, forgotten email and duplicate photo stored in the cloud contributes to the global carbon footprint of digital technology — approximately 4% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.
On 21 March 2026, people and organisations around the world will take action to reduce this footprint through Digital Cleanup Day, led by Let’s Do It World.
How you can take part
Whether you’re an individual cleaning out your personal devices, a team tackling shared drives at work, or an entire institution rethinking data management practices, your contribution matters:
Individuals can delete old emails, remove duplicate photos, unsubscribe from unused services and organise digital files. Even small actions add up when millions participate.
Work collectives can coordinate a team cleanup session, review shared folders, archive completed projects properly and establish practices to prevent future digital clutter.
Organisations and institutions have an opportunity to assess data storage policies, implement digital hygiene protocols and engage employees in sustainable digital practices that continue beyond a single day.
Digital Cleanup Day isn’t just about one-time deletion — it’s about rethinking how we create, store and manage digital content in our daily routines. The habits established now reduce ongoing environmental impact and often improve efficiency and security.
Get ready and take action
You don’t need to wait until 21 March! Start reviewing your digital spaces today and use the event as a milestone to celebrate progress and inspire others.
Find guidance and tools at www.digitalcleanupday.org, including step-by-step instructions, best practices and resources tailored to different contexts.
Access ready-to-use campaign materials via the Digital Cleanup Day Trello board.
After your cleanup, register your impact at www.digitalcleanupday.org. Your data helps demonstrate the collective impact of this global effort.
Approach Digital Cleanup Day with energy and intention. Gather colleagues, share progress and recognise achievements. Transform what could feel like a chore into a meaningful collective action that shows how everyday choices can address environmental challenges.
The preparation starts now. The celebration happens on 21 March. The impact continues every day after.
Why Our Digital Habits Matter for People, Organisations, and the Planet
It All Begins Here
When we think about pollution, we usually picture plastic-filled oceans, overflowing landfills, or smoggy skies. But there is another form of pollution growing quietly in the background of our everyday lives: digital pollution.
Every email stored, every forgotten file kept “just in case,” and every unused system running behind the scenes relies on physical infrastructure servers, data centres, and energy-hungry networks. The digital world may feel weightless, but its environmental footprint is very real. As our reliance on technology grows, so does the responsibility to use it more thoughtfully.
This is the context in which Digital Cleanup Day was created: to shine a light on the hidden environmental impact of digital waste and to encourage a healthier relationship with the technologies we all depend on.
A growing global awareness
Since its launch in 2020, Digital Cleanup Day coordinated by Let’s Do It World has grown into a truly global initiative. More than a million people across dozens of countries have taken part, collectively removing millions of gigabytes of unnecessary digital data from devices and servers around the world.
The impact is tangible. Reducing stored data means lower demand on data centres, less energy consumption, and fewer carbon emissions. What begins as an invisible change on a screen translates into a measurable benefit for the planet proof that digital habits are not neutral, and that conscious choices can make a difference.
More than storage: the human side of digital clutter
Our digital lives are overflowing. Phones are packed, inboxes are full, and important items get lost in years of digital noise. That clutter does more than live on our screens it weighs on our focus, slows productivity, and adds stress to our minds.
Digital Cleanup Day is a moment to pause and reclaim control. It is a chance to simplify, reset, and create space for what truly matters. Clearing out old files, unused apps, and forgotten emails can make technology feel lighter, easier, and more supportive. A tidy digital space is about more than simply being organised it’s a way to free up your mind.
Why this conversation matters for organisations
For organisations, digital waste carries additional weight. Excess data increases energy use, operational costs, and security risks, while outdated systems can slow innovation and undermine trust. At the same time, businesses are under growing pressure to demonstrate meaningful environmental responsibility not only in physical operations, but across their digital infrastructure as well.
Digital Cleanup Day is also a moment for organisations to reflect. It offers a chance to rethink how data is stored, strengthen digital habits, and embrace more sustainable practices. Cleaner systems support faster workflows, lower environmental impact, and stronger trust from customers and communities. Businesses that take this seriously are not just cleaning up they are helping lead the shift toward a more responsible digital future.
Rethinking the digital world we share
Major global change begins when people see a problem before it spirals out of control. Digital Cleanup Day represents such a moment for the digital age a shift in how we think about technology and our responsibility within it. Nothing in this digital space is endless or invisible. Every file we keep consumes energy. Every unused system leaves a footprint. Our digital space is shared, and it deserves our care.
Just as recycling and waste reduction became part of everyday life in the physical world, digital responsibility is becoming an essential part of modern environmental action. This day is more than an action. It is a moment when we start treating the digital world as something precious something worth protecting for ourselves, for others, and for the future.
Small actions, global impact
Meaningful change begins with simple actions. Awareness, better habits, and collective effort together create real impact. When people around the world clean up their digital lives together, the results add up for clearer minds, stronger systems, and a healthier planet.
With Digital Cleanup Day taking place on 21 March, this conversation feels especially timely. This digital environment shapes how we live, work, and connect. Protecting it is no longer an abstract idea it is a responsibility we all share.
The digital world is real. It matters. And it needs our care now more than ever.
The Origins of Digital Cleanup Day: From Telia in Estonia to a Global Movement
It All Begins Here
In the history of digital environmental activism, one story is often overlooked: the pioneering role of Telia Estonia in creating the world’s first Digital Cleanup Day. Telia Estonia initiated the idea in 2018 and became the originator of what would later develop into a global movement to address digital pollution.
Much like World Cleanup Day itself — which began as a national action in Estonia before the Let’s Do It World (LDIW) network took it to the global level from 2018 — Digital Cleanup Day followed a similar journey: starting nationally, then growing through partnership into a worldwide movement.
Telia Estonia is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the Baltic States. In 2018, Telia recognised a growing environmental concern that others had largely overlooked: digital waste. As the world became increasingly digitalised, the energy consumption and carbon footprint of storing unused data, redundant files, and forgotten emails were creating an invisible yet significant environmental impact. The company highlighted that each year, the internet and its supporting systems generate approximately 900 million tonnes of CO₂, exceeding the annual emissions of Germany.
The first national Digital Cleanup Day
In 2019, Telia took action, organising the first national Digital Cleanup Day in Estonia and inviting individuals, organisations, schools, and businesses to clean their digital environments.
On 25 January 2019, Telia launched the first nationwide Digital Cleanup Day — a significant milestone in environmental activism. Participants were encouraged to delete unnecessary files from their devices, unsubscribe from unwanted newsletters, clear out old emails, and remove unused applications. The concept was simple but powerful: environmental action accessible from anywhere, requiring no physical clean-up equipment, only awareness and commitment.
Estonian organisations and individual citizens responded enthusiastically. On the first cleanup day alone, more than 70 companies and several thousand people joined the movement. About one million gigabytes (approximately 1.5 million CDs’ worth of digital information) were deleted during this single event. Participation continued to grow nationally over the following years — by 2023, around 400 organisations and more than 10,000 people were taking part.
By deleting digital waste, participants improved device performance and reduced their carbon footprint, supported by Telia’s educational resources and practical tools.
Estonia as the perfect launchpad
Telia’s decision to launch Digital Cleanup Day in Estonia was no coincidence.
Estonia has long stood among the world’s most digitally advanced societies, a small Baltic nation that has transformed itself into a global digital leader. In 2024, Estonia became the first country to offer 100% of government services online, from voting and healthcare to business registration.
This digitally advanced environment provided ideal conditions for understanding — and addressing — the environmental impact of digital life.
Taking the campaign global
After a successful first year of running digital cleanup events in Estonia, Telia recognised that digital pollution was a challenge requiring global attention. In 2019, the company approached Let’s Do It World, the Estonian-based organisation behind the global World Cleanup Day movement, with a proposal to expand Digital Cleanup Day internationally.
The partnership brought together LDIW’s proven ability to mobilise millions worldwide with Telia’s technical expertise and experience in digital cleanup campaigns. When COVID-19 confined people to their homes in 2020, Telia’s digital cleanup concept offered LDIW a timely way to continue environmental action. LDIW used its global reach to organise the first worldwide Digital Cleanup Day on Earth Day, 22 April 2020, building directly on Telia’s work from 2018–2019.
As the campaign launched, countries across the LDIW network began shaping Digital Cleanup Day in their own contexts. France’s CyberCleanUp campaign and Japan’s digital cleanup movement were frontrunners as two of the strongest national initiatives, with others in the network helping to establish Digital Cleanup Day as a truly global action.
A shared journey of impact
Since 2020, Digital Cleanup Day has reached 175 countries and territories. Over 1.7 million people have participated, collectively deleting more than 16.8 million gigabytes of data. This digital waste removal has prevented the annual production of approximately 4,200 tonnes of CO₂.
Today, Digital Cleanup Day stands alongside World Cleanup Day as a core global campaign of Let’s Do It World, extending environmental action into the digital world.
Reflecting on this journey, Heidi Solba, CEO and President of Let’s Do It World, says:
“Telia Estonia demonstrated true leadership when they launched the world’s first national Digital Cleanup Day on 25 January 2019. What began as Telia’s initiative has grown into a global movement with Let’s Do It World bringing together individuals, organisations, and institutions across the world each 21 March.”
“But the real power of Digital Cleanup Day lies not just in one day of action — it’s about changing our daily digital habits. When everyone acts together, regularly and intentionally, we create meaningful environmental impact while improving how we work and live digitally. We’re grateful to Telia for pioneering this concept with us and showing that addressing digital waste is both necessary and achievable.”
Developed in one of the world’s most advanced digital societies, Digital Cleanup Day created a model that has inspired millions to address digital pollution. As the environmental impact of digital technology continues to grow, Telia’s early leadership remains highly relevant.
Telia continues to organise Digital Cleanup Day annually at the end of January in Estonia, while the LDIW network carries the movement forward globally.
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Find out more about the global Digital Cleanup Day campaign and Telia’s national initiative in Estonia.
Digital Cleanup Day 2025 Results Are In! 2.3M GB Cleaned, 61 Countries Onboard
It All Begins Here
Digital Cleanup Day 2025 continued the global effort to tackle digital waste with a strong showing from individuals and organisations alike. Thanks to the combined efforts of all those who participated, an incredible 2.3 million gigabytes of unnecessary data were deleted, saving 575 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually.
This year, more than 541.8K participants took part across 61 countries and territories. While 2025 saw a dip in participant registrations compared to previous years, the scope of participation and the volume of data cleared shows that the message of digital sustainability continues to resonate worldwide.
Five Years In: Over 1.4 Million People Have Digitally Cleaned
With the 2025 edition, Digital Cleanup Day marks five years of action. Since its inception, 1,726,479 people have taken part, collectively erasing millions of gigabytes of digital clutter and helping reduce the environmental toll of our online lives.
“The scale of the data deleted across the years proves that digital awareness is deepening. We’re moving from symbolic gestures to real impact,” said Heidi Solba, President and CEO of Let’s Do It World.
Global Highlights from DCD 2025
Top participating countries: Ukraine led the way in registrations, followed by Belgium, India, Brazil, and Japan.
Strong regional representation: From Cameroon in Africa to Singapore in Asia and Brazil in South America, DCD 2025 spanned continents and cultures.
Data deletion leaders: India took the top spot for the amount of data wiped, with Nepal, Canada, Brazil, and Pakistan close behind.
Corporate power: A standout contribution came from French tech company SIRFULL, which accounted for the deletion of nearly 996,000 GB alone.
From GBs to CO₂ Savings
This year’s cleanup prevented the equivalent of 575 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually, a testament to the environmental cost of data storage and the vital importance of developing conscious digital habits.
This figure highlights the often-overlooked carbon footprint of our online lives—from emails sitting unread to forgotten files in cloud storage. By tackling this invisible waste, participants have helped ease pressure on energy-hungry data centres, which continue to grow as digital consumption soars.
Looking Ahead: A Digital Culture Shift
As Digital Cleanup Day sees its fifth year of action, the initiative reflects a growing cultural shift. More companies, schools, and individuals are embracing digital housekeeping not just as a once-a-year event, but as part of ongoing sustainability practices.
With 32% of all UN member states taking part in 2025—representing nearly a third of the globe—the movement is steadily growing roots. In an increasingly digital world, managing invisible waste is becoming as vital as cleaning up physical litter.
Let’s Do It World thanks each and every person who participated in this year’s campaign. We are grateful for your ongoing commitment to improving the health of our planet’s ecosystem!
The next challenge? Turning awareness into habit. And as DCD moves into its sixth year, it’s clear that every deleted email, cleared folder, and unsubscribed newsletter is a small but powerful step toward a cleaner, greener digital future.
Find out more about how Digital Cleanup Day’s activities contribute to educating the population of the vital need to address digital waste on our dedicated website. Together, we can clean up our digital world!
Digital Cleanup Day Celebrates Five Years of Reducing Digital Waste
Digital Cleanup Day, a global initiative led by Let’s Do It World, marked its fifth anniversary this year, with participants from across the globe uniting to reduce digital pollution. This important milestone reflects growing awareness of our digital carbon footprint—and the collective action being taken to address it.
Launched in 2020, Digital Cleanup Day was created by Let’s Do It World to tackle a largely invisible but increasingly urgent environmental issue: the carbon emissions linked to storing unnecessary digital data. What began as a call to action has since grown into a powerful global movement, inspiring individuals, businesses, and organisations to rethink their digital habits.
The concept is simple yet impactful. Participants are encouraged to delete unused files, photos, videos, and emails; unsubscribe from unwanted newsletters and services; streamline digital storage; and raise awareness about the environmental consequences of our digital activities. These small actions directly reduce energy consumption in data centres around the world, where thousands of servers run continuously to support our online lives.
While final results for this year’s campaign are still being gathered, early data indicates strong participation across multiple countries. The Let’s Do It World team is now compiling figures on the volume of digital waste removed and the estimated reduction in carbon emissions.
“We express our deepest gratitude to all individuals and organisations around the world who took part in this global day of action,” said Heidi Solba, LDIW President and Head of Global Network. “Your participation shows that small actions, when multiplied by millions, can lead to real environmental change.”
Like its physical counterpart, World Cleanup Day, Digital Cleanup Day aims to foster lasting behavioural change. Beyond the event itself, participants are encouraged to adopt better digital habits year-round—contributing to a more sustainable digital future.
As we await the final figures from this year’s campaign, one thing is certain: Digital Cleanup Day has firmly earned its place on the global environmental calendar, drawing attention to a growing part of our ecological footprint in an increasingly digital world.
To learn how you can take part and implement digital cleanup practices in your daily routine, visit the Digital Cleanup Day website.
Digital Waste—The Hidden Pollution We’re All Creating: An Interview with Jaka Kranjc
Jaka Kranjc, Lead expert at Ekologi brez meja and LDIW’s DCD and Green ICT Workgroup Lead.
Most people don’t think about digital waste. It’s invisible—no overflowing landfills, no oceans choked with debris. But behind every unread email, forgotten backup, and unused app lies an energy cost that contributes to global carbon emissions. In fact, if the internet were a country, it would be one of the world’s largest polluters.
Jaka Kranjc, our Let’s Do It World leader from Slovenia and the driving force behind this year’s Digital Cleanup Day (DCD) campaign, has dedicated years to tackling this unseen crisis. In this conversation, he explains why digital waste matters, what we can do about it, and why he believes we need to rethink the way we use technology.
Digital waste isn’t something many people think about. So what exactly is it, and why should we care?
It’s quite simple, if you think of it as waste that’s in the digital world. Waste is something unwanted, broken, or without value. Now, apply that to the digital realm. It could be useless files, outdated systems, or inefficient digital processes.
Every piece of digital data is stored on physical hardware—there’s no magical 'cloud'; we’re actually just storing our data on other computers. The more data we store, the more physical resources we need to support it—more disks and servers, more network infrastructure, more energy consumption, more transportation, and more mining for materials. Then at the end of the cycle, e-waste from discarded machines is also growing exponentially.
And what’s the impact of all this?
The numbers are horrific. About 90% of sensor data, from things like cameras and heat sensors, is collected but never even looked at. And when it comes to storage, around 80% of data is ‘dark data’—meaning it’s never accessed again.
So a lot of the data we’re storing has no real value, per se. It just keeps accumulating. Our data production is pretty much doubling every two years. And the ICT sector’s carbon footprint now rivals that of aviation. If we don’t start managing it better—that sector alone could consume a third of the world’s energy supply by 2050!
Why do you think digital waste receives so little attention compared to other environmental topics?
ICT has long been seen as a ‘golden horse’ for economic growth and innovation. Politically, it’s been untouchable. COVID-19 likely accelerated awareness, as we became more reliant on digital tools. Even I didn’t fully grasp the scale until I joined the Digital Cleanup Day effort, and I consider myself an ICT guy. In computing, you tend to work on your own little program or whatever, and don’t see the bigger picture.
But awareness is growing, and there’s mounting public pressure on companies to be more sustainable. Even the European Union is becoming a bit more aware that the ICT sector has to be greened. And if you’re running a data centre where your main cost is electricity for running and cooling the servers, then you’re going to be thinking about it aren’t you?
What do you think is driving this issue?
One big problem is over-digitalisation. Not everything needs to be online! I don’t need my toothbrush to have Wi-Fi. I don’t need a thermostat that only works through an app. A colleague of mine has one, and if her phone battery died during a power cut, she wouldn’t even be able to turn on her radiator. That’s ridiculous.
We need to talk about data sufficiency, just like we talk about sufficiency when it comes to material resources. It’s about setting boundaries for responsible data use, which we’re not currently doing. For example, my Gmail account no longer has a size limit, which doesn’t encourage me to clean up my inbox. Previously, with a 30-gigabyte limit, I had to regularly search for large attachments or photos to delete or organise more systematically. Now, with unlimited storage, I could easily just let it pile up indefinitely.
Smart toothbrushes can collect data and contribute to digital waste
What about the recent growth of Artificial Intelligence? Where does that fit in?
AI has some incredibly positive impacts on society—in medicine and science, for example—so it does have an important place in society. But when it comes to energy consumption, it’s horrible. We know that the server racks used for training models consume triple the power of regular servers, and adding AI into a Google search for example, increases the carbon footprint by up to 10 times. One eye-opening moment recently was the news that Microsoft is considering building its own nuclear power plant to fuel its AI data centres.
That said, recent developments in open-source models, like DeepSeek and Llama, have made AI more efficient and accessible, which is a positive step. And as with everything, it’s about being responsible in how we use it—only where it genuinely improves our lives, and not just shoe-horning it into every product just for the sake of it. Take a hammer, for example—it’s a great tool for the right job, but you wouldn’t use it to eat meat or comb your hair. That’s how I feel about our use of AI.
Any common misconceptions you’d like to clear up about digital waste?
We do sometimes get messages from ICT professionals saying we’re crazy and this is all nonsense—despite the fact that there are entire research departments working on the issue! The problem is that you often need to simplify technical messages to be understandable to the wider public, but then you can end up oversimplifying it to the point that tech people no longer take it seriously.
One misconception is the idea that it doesn’t matter whether your disk is 10% or 70% full, it will use the same energy. Up to a point of course, that’s true. But if we’re not careful with how we manage data, then we’ll need more storage—another disk, another server, another server rack, another data centre. When all our digital waste combines, it really adds up.
If we all store unnecessary files, it can create demand for a whole new data centre
And what’s the solution—other than cleaning up our file storage, what can be done about all this?
If we really want to decarbonise the ICT sector, then we need a broader consensus, and action from all levels of society. Unfortunately, there’s no quick techno-fix for this one! It will need regulation from governments, like the law introduced in France to encourage change within companies and the public sector. Or like in Slovenia, where public procurement rules now require data centres to meet certain energy efficiency levels. And for us as end users, it’s not just about changing our habits and cleaning up our machines, but we need to be vocal too—to demand from these companies and our governments to do better.
What can companies do to reduce their digital impact?
We had one good practice example presented at our recent conference on digital waste in Slovenia. They looked at their whole system—data was scattered, some on paper, some digital, with access issues and security risks. So, they put together a strategy to manage their digital footprint. It focused on improving staff habits, organising their IT systems properly, and making sure the people running it all had a clear structure. Another company held a Digital Cleanup Day challenge, rewarding employees with an extra holiday day for deleting the most waste! That’s a great motivation, right?
And when it comes to developers, it’s about striving for simplicity. There’s that Saint-Exupéry quote I love—the idea that ‘perfection comes not when there’s nothing more to add, but when there’s nothing left to take away’. It’s the same in IT. A simple, well-optimised system is often the most powerful. We’ve become lazy because hardware is so powerful nowadays, but we now need to spend more time properly designing things—choosing the right technology, improving our algorithms, optimising websites to be light and so on. There’s a real beauty in simplicity that I’d love my fellow developers to get inspired by.
Are you seeing a shift in the right direction?
I mean, when you look at the stats, the trends are horrible and growth is exponential. But yes, there is growing awareness, and small things are starting to be done. But we need more to be done, of course. And it’s clear it would be a win-win-win-win situation! There’s a real business case for digital sustainability—optimising their websites can increase sales, and cleaning up files can reduce storage costs, for example. Then, of course, it’s a win for the environment. But there’s a social benefit too—when we talk about things like digital detox and reconnecting with nature.
Any final message for readers?
If we want to reach a low carbon future, the ICT sector can’t just be seen as the good guy helping to green other sectors through digitalisation. It needs to do some serious introspection and recognise that it is contributing to the problem.
And for everyone else? If you don’t need it, delete it. But more than that, it’s about building better organisational processes and responsible digital habits in individuals. How many Youtube videos do I really need to watch per day, and at fullscreen? Do I need to video call my colleague or can I just message them? Do I need to ask AI for the answer, or can I find it out another way? We have a choice what technology we use and how, and that matters. While it may feel like nothing at the individual level, on a global scale, it really adds up.
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Feeling inspired to clean up your digital footprint? Join Digital Cleanup Day and help delete millions of gigabytes of digital waste across the world. Be part of the solution—every action counts. Learn more at: www.digitalcleanupday.org.
Our Responsibility in a Connected World: LDIW’s Strategic Vision for Digital Sustainability
In the summer of 2024, the LDIW network came together to co-create a strategic vision for the next six years. One of the key focus areas identified was Digital Sustainability—a critical topic that affects both our online and physical environments.
Recognising the importance of this issue, a dedicated working group was formed at the end of last year, led by Jaka Kranjc from the Ekologi brez meja / Let’s Do It Slovenia. The aim of the working group is to raise awareness about how technology adversely impacts our environment and promote digital sufficiency, offering practical steps to reduce digital waste.
But what exactly is digital waste? It’s the accumulation of unused digital content—old files, unnecessary emails, forgotten documents, and unorganised photos and videos—that continue to consume storage space, energy, and resources. Every piece of data we store requires power to maintain, and as a result, contributes to carbon emissions. Therefore, data that has lost its value and is unused (so called ‘dark data’) is an unnecessary burden. Just as we take responsibility for reducing physical waste, we must also embrace digital responsibility to minimise our environmental impact.
There are many ways we at LDIW encourage individuals and organisations to take action, such as:
Regularly cleaning up unnecessary files and emails from your devices and cloud services.
Optimising websites and online content to be lighter and more energy-efficient.
Demanding better designed hardware and software that is built to last.
Raising awareness within your community about the environmental impact of digital waste.
To further amplify these efforts, the DCD & Green ICT working group is planning an exciting global initiative to promote Digital Cleanup Day, our annual event encouraging responsible management of digital waste. This initiative will encourage more LDIW teams to organise Digital Cleanup Day events in their respective countries. Additionally, the team is developing a Digital Waste training program, complete with valuable resources and actionable steps to help individuals and organisations implement digital sustainability practices.
At LDIW, we share a common goal—a healthy and waste-free world. Digital waste is not just an abstract problem; it has real-world consequences, contributing to physical waste, excessive energy consumption, and increased CO2 emissions. By embracing digital minimalism, cleaning up our digital spaces, and making mindful choices, we can collectively reduce our digital footprint and contribute to a more sustainable future.
Let’s take action together—because a cleaner digital world means a cleaner planet for all.
Digital Cleanup Day Returns 15 March: 3 Simple Steps to Take Action
Join individuals and organisations worldwide on Saturday 15 March for Digital Cleanup Day, a global initiative dedicated to decluttering our digital lives and reducing the environmental impact of digital waste. Organised by Let’s Do It World, this annual event urges everyone to take proactive steps in managing their digital footprint.
In 2024, people from 98 countries and territories took part, with 315,097 individual cleanups registered. Together, participants deleted over 1.8 million GB of data—helping prevent the release of 457,283 kilograms of CO₂ into the atmosphere!
How to Get Involved in Digital Cleanup Day 2025
Taking part in Digital Cleanup Day is simple, and your actions can make a real difference. Here are three easy steps to join in:
1. Clean Up Your Digital Devices
Start by clearing out clutter from your computers, smartphones, and cloud storage. Delete unnecessary files, emails, and unused applications that consume energy and storage. Regular digital cleanups help lower CO₂ emissions, extend device lifespan, and improve performance. Find more guidance at digitalcleanupday.org.
2. Report Your Cleanup Efforts
Once you have tidied up your digital spaces, share your impact on the Digital Cleanup Day dashboard. Reporting your actions helps illustrate the collective impact of this global effort, and how each small effort can add up to a massive shift. Submit your results here.
3. Celebrate and Inspire Others
After you’ve completed your cleanup, celebrate your success by sharing your experience on social media using the hashtag #DigitalCleanupDay. Your story can inspire others to reflect on their digital habits and take action towards a cleaner digital environment.
Spread the Word in Your Community
In the run-up to 15 March, you can help Digital Cleanup Day have an even greater impact by encouraging friends, family, and colleagues to get involved. Promoting the event in your community or organisation can inspire others to participate and amplify the collective effort. Use the available resources to raise awareness and motivate others to join in. You can find template materials and guidance here.
For many of us, Digital Cleanup Day marks the beginning of our journey towards digital responsibility. It’s an easy first step that anyone can take, to build better digital habits throughout the year and into the future! Join others across the globe on 15 March 2025 and take a collective leap towards a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable world for all. Every action counts!
For further details and resources, visit digitalcleanupday.org.
Get Inspired and Learn: Highlights From Slovenia’s Digital Waste Conference
Speakers at the Conference 'Data = Waste?' organised by Ekologi brez meja
To open the season of Digital Cleanup Day activities, Ekologi brez meja, our Let’s Do It member organisation in Slovenia, hosted a conference on the environmental footprint of computing and the concept of digital sufficiency. The event, titled ‘Data = Waste?’, took place on Tuesday 6 February in Ljubljana and was organised as part of the wide-reaching 'Clean Up Slovenia's Digital Waste' initiative.
With an audience of representatives from companies, faculties, media and the general public, experts gathered to discuss key issues facing the ICT sector. The key challenge in the spotlight was that of reducing the sector's carbon footprint and the often-overlooked dangers of rebound effects—where efficiency gains can lead to increased consumption, undermining environmental benefits.
The message was clear: we cannot simply optimise our way out of this crisis. Presenters also highlighted worrying trends in digital consumption and storage. However, it was not all doom and gloom. The conference showcased positive actions companies are taking to address digital waste. Speakers shared practical approaches to tackling the problem of ‘dark data’—unnecessary digital information that consumes energy fruitlessly.
Among the presentations, two impactful campaigns were presented. Anett Linno, LDIW Management Board Member, introduced our own global Digital Cleanup Day campaign, encouraging individuals and organisations to reduce their digital clutter. Additionally, KDE shared their ‘Opt Green: End Of 10’ initiative, which aims to prevent e-waste resulting from the end of support for Windows 10.
Get inspired and learn from the insightful presentations—watch the English-language highlights here.
Digital Cleanup Day 2024’s Results Push Overall Registrations Past 1M
Digital Cleanup Day (DCD) is a day dedicated to cleaning up our digital lives, just like we clean up our physical environment on World Cleanup Day (WCD). This year’s digital campaign officially took place on Saturday 16 March, although registration of results remained open until May to allow business organisations to complete their CSR- & ESG-related activities in connection with DCD.
The results from 2024’s campaign have pushed overall registration past the 1 million mark, underlining the trend of increasing interest in the campaigns’ related activities.
Now having engaged 1,184,717 participants, DCD’s five annual campaigns have seen over 14.5 million gigabytes of data deleted from digital devices in 175 countries and territories worldwide (including 83% of all UN member states).
This remarkable achievement has also prevented the production of over 3,625 tons* of CO2, which would otherwise have been expelled into our increasingly fragile environment.
2024’s results saw 315,097 registrations, from 98 countries and territories, deleting a total of 1,829,132 GB of data, thus preventing the production of 457,283 kgs of CO2.
The majority of registrations came from France, once again, with Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, and the UK completing the Top 5 by participation. Brazil topped South America, Pakistan led the chart in Asia, and Tanzania saw most participation in Africa.
In terms of the amount of data deleted, France also topped that list, with Brazil, Slovenia, Switzerland, and the UK completing this Top 5, the majority of data deleted split between them.
DCD, organised by the Let's Do It World NGO (LDIW), is a global initiative, and is now into its sixth year. The primary aim is to raise awareness about digital pollution, thus encouraging individuals and companies to declutter and restructure their online presence. Its importance and relevance increase with each passing year.
Commenting on the significance of DCD campaign results, and on the need to have DCD in our consciousness, LDIW’s CEO, Anett Linno, remarked, “At LDIW we are witnessing increasing interest in Digital Cleanup Day, for example from schools, business organisations, government representatives. More people than ever care about this topic and are proactively approaching us to know more about Digital Cleanup Day and how to organise it in their teams or communities.”
She explained, “Keeping our digital data footprint small by cleaning up and deleting all unnecessary and non-essential pictures, videos, movies, emails, etc., from all our devices, as well as from the cloud, is a relatively small act that each of us can do for our planet, just as we clean up waste from nature. It can be simply done, and even made fun, especially when doing it together with your family, friends or colleagues.”
“This is the positive effect of the efforts that our network is undertaking in this direction, by communicating and spreading the word about Digital Cleanup Day as a solution for the digital waste issue,” concluded Linno.
This is the ‘information era’ and we live in a dualistic world: we have the physical and the digital ones. We human beings are producing and consuming goods and services in both. This also means that, when using online products and services, such as watching Film & TV streaming channels, or posting/emailing pictures from our travels, we also create waste in both worlds.
Digital waste consumes simply enormous amounts of energy, which in turn creates a massive impact in terms of CO2 production. The Internet alone produces more than 900 million tons of CO2 each year! The need for energy production to literally fuel the Internet has therefore increased and still does so – rapidly.
So, we thank each and every person who participated in this year’s campaign. We are grateful for your ongoing commitment to improving the health of our planet’s ecosystem.
We also extend very warm gratitude to our prolific blog author, Iryna Komazova, who produced an excellent series of informative articles on the topic of digital waste, the most recent of which you can read here.
We also thank our social media representative, Danish science influencer Maria Jarjis, for her series of entertaining and vibrant educational videos, the most recent of which you can view on our official Facebook channel.
You can find out much more about how Digital Cleanup Day’s activities contribute to educating the population of the vital need to address digital waste on the dedicated website, which also features a comprehensive Learning Centre.
You can also follow our official LinkedIn channel, which will bring news and views as the DCD campaigns continue.
We look forward to receiving your registrations – and your stories! – for next year’s campaign, scheduled for Saturday 15 March, 2025.
Footnote: * For the calculations of digital waste, we use the world average CO2 emission figures of the International Energy Agency, according to which 4 GB of data stored on servers and other data storages for one year consumes 2 kWh of energy and produces 1 kg of CO2.