Clutter can take many forms. In your home, it can include items you’ve put aside to deal with later—such as paperwork, clothing or furniture in your basement or attic. And it can stack up quickly.
It’s the same with digital clutter. Unnecessary emails, files, apps, and redundant photos and videos pile up and make it tough to find what you’re looking for. Plus, all the clutter can contribute to unnecessary stress.
Files also occupy space on your computer or cloud server, both of which require electricity to operate and release carbon dioxide (CO2). This is digital waste.
In an article on the World Nuclear Association website, over 40% of energy-related CO2 emissions are due to the burning of fossil fuels for electricity generation. An increase in CO2 emissions also means an increase in global warming.
What can you do? Join the charge to help increase energy efficiency by reducing digital clutter at Notre Dame by joining the Conquer Your Clutter Challenge.
How to Join the Challenge
The Office of Information Technologies (OIT) designed this program to help faculty, staff and students clean up and organize their digital workspace—a simple, yet powerful way to reduce digital storage and improve productivity.
Once enrolled in this program, participants will receive a tip each week. Each tip takes less than 30 minutes to complete with valuable information on how to identify and remove files no longer needed and ways to use Google apps to stay productive.
After completing the challenge, participants will find they now have a more organized space online to find files quickly and easily. Plus, those who join before Tuesday, April 11 will be entered in a drawing to win various prizes!
“This effort began as a result of the Smart Storage program that is focused on the kinds of information we store and how it is stored at Notre Dame,” said Katie Rose, assistant vice president for IT strategic excellence & engagement, Office of Information Technologies. “Storage vendors constantly change their cost models for the storage solutions we use. This program is designed to identify the many different kinds of storage needed throughout Notre Dame and how to effectively manage them.”
If the entire campus community does their part, it can mean a lot of energy savings. Rose offered a challenge, “I enrolled in Conquer Your Clutter, and already removed 40GB of files that I no longer need. Plus, it only took 5 minutes! Can anyone beat that?”
Your participation in the Conquer Your Clutter Challenge will help Notre Dame maintain cost-effective, sustainable and secure storage solutions now, and in the future. Details are available on the Conquer your Clutter web page.