• Because no one wants digital technology to one day become the number one source of pollution in the world,

    20 Minutes

    is focusing this summer on the digital sobriety of companies.

    Where we are ?

  • In the fifth episode of our series, it's time for tips for a greener digital return to the office.

  • "To think that deleting your emails is to act for the planet, it's stupid, really", annoys Frédéric Bordage, expert in digital sobriety, who explains to us how to act effectively.

At a time when the word "sobriety" is on everyone's lips, it's time to wrap up our summer series with some advice for a green digital back to school at the office.

Do not panic, because while politicians and journalists are debating the restrictive and constraining side of sobriety, Frédéric Bordage, independent expert and founder of Green IT, has a very different discourse: "If we correct our misuses and we are a little more reasonable, digital sobriety is not a return to the world of caves.

A small diet - digital we understand - is therefore not likely to thwart the heated discussions around the coffee machine, nor to animate the debates over the past holidays - "Brittany, really, it counts in the destinations of holidays ?

!

".

It is still necessary to apply it wisely and to know how to concentrate its efforts on practices which, ecologically, are worth it.

Is it better to delete his emails?

Eternal post-summer debate: should I delete my 5,000 emails received during the holidays?

Sort them?

Or even switch them all to "read" without opening any?

Uncompromising response from Frédéric Bordage: "To think that deleting your emails is to act for the planet, it's stupid, cretin, really".

The expert, who is tired of hearing this kind of speech focused on the storage of emails, asserts that it is a detail.

“The time spent deleting emails creates more environmental impacts than keeping them.

In the overall assessment, it is negative”.

“What weighs the most is the time spent by the reader and the transmitter behind their screen, plus the transport, a fortiori in 4G, and only after that comes the storage, he adds again.

We cast shame on the storage of emails when the subject is not to send them”.

No need on the day of the recovery to type three hours to go up the wire of his mailbox, therefore.

Just type in the search bar the addresses of your colleagues to quickly find important information.

Limit sending and attachments, a good idea?

In the same line, who says back to school, says good resolutions.

Try to include in your routine a reflection before clicking on “Send”: is this email really essential?

Similarly, we often hear everything and its opposite about attachments, but what is their impact?

“Limiting the PCs is a good idea.

Replace them with links to download sites too, agrees Frédéric Bordage.

But this approach is really very insignificant since our digital uses do not constitute a significant source of impact”.

Reasonable and reasoned uses

But then, what lever can I activate to use a reasoned digital?

Tristan Labaume, founding president of the Green IT alliance, talks about “reflecting the use of digital services in the broad sense, wisely and just as needed”.

Do I really need to watch a kitten video?

Especially on a train with 4G or 5G and a high-quality phone?

In short, thinking about digital sobriety is during working hours, but also outside, on the move or at home.

Finally, the advice is not new but it is really important to turn off all your digital terminals once they are finished using them.

For the wallet and to reduce its electricity bill, but also for the life of the devices.

Which is, if it must be remembered, the nerve of the ecological war: the production of these computer devices today represents 80 to 90% of their total environmental impact.

And if your company hasn't yet bet on refurbished computer equipment, an eco-designed website or a responsible cloud provider, offer it slow tech solutions and take on received ideas on the metaverse.

She will thank you for it.

And the planet too.

Culture

"It's impressive, nobody knows the ecological cost of a like", is surprised Guillaume Pitron

Planet

Climate: What are the five (essential) issues of “ecological planning”?

Find the other episodes of our summer series “In complete sobriety”:

Episode 1: Responsible cloud, eco-designed sites, slow tech… Do companies have the means to think digitally in a reasonable way?

Episode 2: Is refurbished the future for sustainable tech in companies?

Episode 3: Nice site, but bad impact… Is it possible to combine user experience and ecology?

Episode 4: Is a meta-green/s a sweet utopia?

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