Today, we consider our carbon footprint increasingly important. But do we actually consider the impact of our online behavior. In this blog, Sebastiaan de Ruiter explores how we can take a step forward towards a more sustainable digital future.

Digital sustainability

Let me start with a confession. I don't think I am as digitally sustainable myself as I would like to be. Last week I switched to a new phone and then I "briefly" transferred 14,000 photos. Without blinking my eyes. And then I have three backups of them, too. You never know... Securing my children's photos is apparently more important to me than the impact it has on our planet. And then in that respect I am only a consumer, companies do this on a much larger scale.

The hidden energy cost of digital marketing

In the world of marketing today, everything is digital. Sketching on paper, which marketer still does it? Writing texts, we do it on our computers, tablets or smartphones. A popular platform like ChatGPT doesn't run on air either: there are huge data centers pounding away on it. We don't see them, but they are there. And when the Internet goes down, we are at a massive loss. A friend of mine works in an Amsterdam company in the gaming industry. When there was a major power outage in Amsterdam the other day, he had to send 150 people home. I don't mean by this that we should go back to the way things used to be, but it's good to take a moment to think about the magnitude of it all.

The reality of data storage

The numbers don't lie when it comes to the amount of energy we consume digitally. Mobile data consumption alone in the Netherlands in 2020 accounted for 346 million GB (346,000 TB). Not to mention the data consumption of companies and communication via computers. Because everything that organizations store, including all the content that you are sometimes legally obliged to keep for seven to eight years, contributes to this consumption. This is not something that can be compensated for by sticking a piece of foil behind the radiators.

Digital storage seems infinite

On the one hand, there is the idea that digital storage is infinite. We store files without really thinking about the cost. After all, what does a terabyte even cost? For less than ten bucks a month, you already have a basic subscription to Dropbox with 2 TB of storage. But in doing so, we rarely think about the ecological footprint we leave behind that way.

Towards a more efficient approach to content management

Still, we can make a big impact if we are more efficient with content. If you're still producing physical marketing materials, I assume you're using recycled paper. But you can think about the impact of your digital activities much earlier in the process. If you work with a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, you no longer have to store duplicates everywhere and nowhere, but can work with one good master file. That already saves a huge chunk of digital. Give the right people with the right permissions access to the right digital media in your DAM system and you'll never have to make copies or do unnecessary conversions again. In this way, you can make huge strides toward a more sustainable - digital - marketing strategy at lightning speed.

Awareness

It all starts with awareness. We all realize by now that we need to be more sustainable in our "normal" lives. But sustainability is not just about what we eat and how we move around, it is also about our digital behavior.

Curious?

Discover the benefits of a sustainable marketing approach with Digital Asset Management. Want more insight? Then download our DAM guide and learn how efficient content management can reduce your digital ecological footprint. Wondering how Comrads can help your brand in this sustainable journey? Then request a no-obligation demo right away. We are ready to think with you, now and in the future.