What Is The Digital Spring Cleanup?

Just like many people do a deep clean of their physical space when the weather warms, UDIT encourages taking a few days to clean up your digital environment. Decreasing your digital waste lowers your carbon emissions, helps you to work efficiently, and can increase the speed and lifespan of your devices.

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Challenge #1: Clean Up Your Storage

In addition to cleaning up your personal computer’s Downloads, Documents and Desktop folders—which can become graveyards for files—take a moment to organize your Cloud storage. Our knowledge base has articles on cleaning up Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, if you’re wondering how to get started.

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Challenge #2: Clean Up Your Email

When was the last time you deleted old emails? Maybe you are diligent with deletion, but subscribe to newsletters you delete without reading. Did you know each email sent is about 4g of CO₂ or the same carbon footprint of a light bulb turned on for 6 minutes?*

*Source: digitalcleanupday.org

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Challenge #3: Clean Up Your Smartphone

Removing apps you no longer use is one of the easiest ways to clear space on your phone—but don’t forget to delete any accounts and data associated with the apps! It’s also a great time to go through your photos and delete duplicates, old screenshots, and any other old content you don’t need.

Digital Waste in Perspective

In just one year (2007), one zettabyte of data was created worldwide. By 2010, this had doubled. In 2035, we will create more than 2,000 zettabytes. To print out one zettabyte of data you would need the paper from 20 trillion trees. There are only about 3.5 trillion trees left on the planet, so that is not possible.
99% of data was created within last 10 years.
Limitless consumption of data today needs 3 times more energy than all the solar panels the world can produce.
The Internet produces more than 900 million tons of CO₂ each year.
90% of all data is never accessed 3 months after it is stored.

91% of web pages get no traffic from Google.
320 billion emails are sent every day and 62 trillion spam emails every year = 20 million tons of CO₂.
One email emits, on average, 4g of CO₂ = the carbon footprint of a light bulb turned on for 6 minutes.
It takes more energy to mine for BitCoin than the whole of New Zealand consumes in a year.*

*Source: digitalcleanupday.org

Use the Search Engine That Plants Trees

Beginning in 2023, UDIT teamed up with the Office of Sustainability to bring the search engine Ecosia to all UDIT-managed computers. You can add the search engine to your browser and add to the number of trees that the University of Delaware helps to plant!

Challenge #1: Clean Up Your Storage

Identify Storage Usage

Check how much space is currently being used before you start cleaning and again after so you can see your progress.

On Windows: Go to Settings > System > Storage to see storage breakdown.
On Mac: Click Apple Menu > About This Mac > Storage or Apple Menu > About This Mac > More Information > Storage Settings depending on your OS.
Managing storage in your UD Google and M365 accounts

Delete Unnecessary Files

Go through your Downloads, Desktop, and Documents folders, and delete old files, duplicates, and unused documents.
Deleting Data from a Google Shared Drive
Deleting data from Google MyDrive
Deleting data from shared locations: Microsoft 365

Organize Files

Move important files into categorized folders.
Store long-term files on an external drive or cloud storage.
Google Takeout
Google Transfer

Clear Temporary Files

On Windows: Run Disk Cleanup.
On Mac: Use Finder > Go > Go to Folder, type ~/Library/Caches, and delete cache files.

Empty the Trash

Space on your system will not be reclaimed until files are removed from the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac).
When clearing cloud storage, files will permanently delete from trash after a certain number of days. We recommend waiting until the files automatically delete in case you need to restore something.

Additional Knowledgebase Resources

Challenge #2: Clean Up Inbox & Unsubscribe

Sort and Delete Emails

Identify old or unnecessary emails and delete them.
Use the search bar to find emails by sender, subject, or date.
Unsubscribe from unwanted newsletters
Use the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of promotional emails.

Organize Important Emails

Create folders or labels to categorize emails (e.g., Work, Personal, Finance).
Set up rules/filters to automatically sort incoming emails.
Delete Spam and Trash
Empty the Spam and Trash folders to free up space.

Challenge #3: Clean Up Smartphone

Check Storage Usage

On Android: Settings > Storage.
On iPhone: Settings > General > iPhone Storage.

Delete Unused Apps

Review installed apps and uninstall those you don’t use.
On Android/iPhone: Settings > Apps > Select App > Uninstall.

Clear Cache & Temporary Files

Close browser tabs you aren’t using.
On Android: Settings > Storage > Free up space.
On iPhone: Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data.

Delete Old Files & Media

Remove duplicate or blurry photos/videos. Verify that any personal photos are backed up to a non-UD account.
Transfer important files to cloud storage.

Clean Up Messages

Delete old text messages and media-heavy chat conversations.
Archive or remove inactive groups in your messaging apps.

Update and Optimize

Update apps regularly for better performance.
Restart your device to refresh its system.

Need Additional Help?

Visit the AskIT Service Desk in Smith Hall or submit a ticket by emailing askit@udel.edu.

Faculty can also reach out to Academic Technology Services or their IT Pro with any questions about the Digital Spring Cleanup Challenge.

AskIT Support