17 actions to adopt to move towards responsible digital technology
Discover our all-in-one solution
More and more French men and women own digital devices of all kinds. Whether The phones, the computers, the smartwatch, the bluetooth speaker or The connected fridge, the environmental footprint linked to digital technology is increasing sharply.
This impact comes less from the use of the devices than from Their manufacture. However, there are a few things you can do to reduce your daily footprint and move towards responsible digital technology.
What are the good eco-digital behaviors to put in place? Which is the most useful for reducing your digital footprint? How to lighten your emails? rzilient gives you some tips with this checklist of things to do to use your computer in green iT mode.
Reducing your impact on a daily basis
It should not be forgotten that individual actions are important, but it is necessary to combine them with further reflection on digital sobriety. In particular on the consumption of computer goods.
Reduce the environmental impact of your data
Today, the technology is more and more efficient and consumes less energy, it's a fact. However, this is not enough to truly reduce its impact.
Here are a few things you can do to reduce digital pollution linked to daily use and move towards more responsible digital technology:
- Save your favorite sites instead of doing daily searches or having lots of tabs open;
- avoid sending Emails that are too heavy and limit attachments. To do this, use software such as FileVert ;
- Give priority to wifi to 4G or 5G;
- Adopt lighter email signatures, with no image or with a low resolution;
- store your data locally on a hard drive instead of using the cloud;
- Switch off your box in the evening or when the office goes on vacation. As specified GreenIt : an ADSL or fiber box consumes an average of 158kWh of electricity per year and this can go up to 300kWh depending on the model!
- Unplug your devices when they are charged and turn them off when they are in hibernation;
- if your colleague is close, Go ask him your question and give him your files by USB stick instead of sending him an email.
Extend the lifespan of your digital equipment
Doing eco-actions on a daily basis is good. Extend the life of your tools Computers are even better.
To do this, there are simple tips to put in place:
- Install an anti-ad on your computer;
- reduce the obsolescence of your software by updating only the things that need to be compliance. Some updates are simply made for more comfort.
- Try to repair and reuse your devices instead of throwing them away
Managing the end of life of your equipment for a green iT
When we talk about the impact of digital technology, we mean The entire life chain of a device : its manufacture, use and end of life. The latter can quickly become a problem if it is not taken care of properly.
Computer hardware recycling Is at Give preference as a last option because it is more difficult to breathe new life into all computer components. They are so small and intertwined that it is complicated to extract all materials to be reused.
You can do 2 things, in addition to trying to extend the life of your computer:
- if it is unusable, Give it to a reuse actor, he can refurbish it and then donate it or resell it.
- if you really want to recycle it, Place it in a suitable container.
With the multiplication of digital devices in homes and offices, the major problem that will emerge in the coming years concerns all electronic waste.
That's why he is It is important to think about your consumption of digital devices.
Buying less but better: the ultimate key to responsible digital technology
To move towards responsible digital technology, eco-actions are useful but not enough. It is not the use of the device that pollutes the most but Its manufacture.
ADEME explains that 3/4 of the environmental impacts of global digital technology come from Manufacturing of the various equipment. Between the extraction of rare earths and the energy used for the transformation, transport and storage of data, the digital bill is quickly high.
To give you some figures,The manufacture of a 2 kilo computer requires on average:
- 240 kilos of fossil fuels ;
- 22 kilos of chemical products ;
- 1.5 tons of water.
To tend towards digital sobriety, here are a few tips to put in place:
- Opt for refurbished rather than new devices;
- Give priority to environmental labels like Blue Angel, TCO, EPEAT if you need to buy something new;
- Ask yourself the question of relevance: do you really need it?
- share your equipment with your colleagues and/or your neighbours when possible;
- rent your IT fleet thanks to Rzilient and avoid buying new devices,
- choose eco-designed devices or who have software designed using eco-design.
In France, the professional computer fleets are changed Every 4 years on average, and the Smartphones every 24 to 36 months. For this reason, it is important to ask yourself the following question: Is it really worth buying a new device nine? If necessary, Reconditioned devices are an ecological and economical solution.
Conclusion
Good practices to reduce your digital impact on a daily basis are numerous but are not enough when you know that most of the digital pollution comes from manufacturing.
It is necessary to opt for The right actions When you choose your computer hardware and to take care of it for extend its lifespan as much as possible.
These questions of eco-gestures on an individual scale must be deployed at The collective scale. Organizations, businesses, and even governments have Responsibility to seize it so that digital technology becomes sustainable and sustainable in the long term.
Do you want to reduce your company's environmental footprint and adopt a more responsible IT policy? We offer various solutions to achieve this! Let's discuss it.
