Digital Cleanup Month: this week focuses on digital environments

27.01.2025

#sustainability

Further information:

Joonas Masing

Information Technology Office

IT Support Service

Content Manager

Uppsala 10-142

joonas.masing@ut.ee

+372 5681 8250 (6818)

In January, University of Tartu members are, for the first time, cleaning up digital waste during the entire month. The university invites everyone to dedicate at least 30 minutes every week to get rid of digital waste and tidy up their personal or their unit’s digital space. The fourth week of the Digital Cleanup Month is focused on cleaning up various digital environments.

Winners of the third draw were employee Piret Saluveer and student Reti Toom. We will contact the winners.

When cleaning digital environments, the following may be helpful.

Take a look at all the files accumulated in OneDrive, Moodle, BigBlueButton, Mahara and LimeSurvey. Make backup copies of important files. You can store them on external hard drives, cloud platforms or other backup solutions to avoid losing valuable information. Delete any old, outdated or useless files.
Check that all systems and applications are up to date to ensure the security and stability of your environment. Remove unnecessary plugins.
Delete the accounts you no longer use and update the data of necessary accounts.
Review your privacy and security settings for each environment. Make sure that you use strong passwords and two-factor authentication, where possible.
Check access rights to shared files and sites. Remove access rights from people who do not need them.

Please remember that the university’s cloud platform is not intended for storing personal files.

See also the IT helpdesk guides about decluttering OneDrive, Moodle, Panopto, BBB, Mahara, Sisu@UT and LimeSurvey.

You can register your participation in the Digital Cleanup Month via the web form. Every Monday, there will be a draw to win great prizes from the university's gift shop.

The university invites staff and students to clean up different types of digital waste every week:

6–10 January – organise your computer and documents;
13–17 January – clean up your smart device;
20–24 January – check and clean your email inbox;
27–31 January – check and clean your cloud services and other environments (OneDrive, Moodle, Panopto, BBB, Mahara, Sisu@UT, LimeSurvey).

General principles for reducing digital waste

Before buying a new device, consider whether you really need it.
If a device does not work properly or is out of date, don’t buy a new one immediately but have it repaired.
If you no longer need your old device, don’t leave it in a drawer, but consider donating, selling or recycling it.
Choose an energy-efficient product that has a long lifespan and is made from sustainable materials.
Use cloud services, as storing data in the cloud reduces the need for physical storage space.
Reduce unnecessary data storage.

Bins for unnecessary external data carriers

In cooperation with the Estates Office, the IT Office has placed special digital waste bins in the university’s academic buildings (Nooruse 1, Ravila 14a, Ravila 19, W. Ostwaldi 1, Riia 23, Jakobi 2, Jakobi 5, Lossi 36, Ülikooli 18, Narva mnt 18, Uppsala 10, Vanemuise 46, J. Liivi 2, Lossi 3, Näituse 2, Näituse 20, W. Struve 1, Ujula 4 and Ülikooli 17) The bins are meant for unnecessary external data carriers: flash drives, floppy disks, CDs and DVDs, smart cards, cassettes, and old video and audio tapes.

Please do not put hard drives, phones and other electronic devices in the digital waste bins.

The labelled bins will be available in the study buildings from 6 January to 3 February.

Until 31 Jan