Digital sustainability: small choices, big impact

How can we reduce the environmental impact of our digital lives while improving efficiency and resilience? That’s a prevalent question for all the higher and further education members I work with every day and is the focus of our sustainability workshop.

The hidden impact of our digital lives

Working at the intersection of technology and sustainability, I am frequently reminded how easily the environmental impact of our digital lives fades into the background. Most universities and colleges already have strong sustainability commitments, but the digital elements of those commitments such as the energy used to power the cloud services we rely on, the embodied emissions from manufacturing and replacing devices, and the growing volumes of data we store and transmit, all too often go unnoticed, and therefore unaddressed.

The scale of that hidden impact is becoming harder to ignore. Every email stored, every video streamed, every terabyte of data backed up to the cloud has a physical presence somewhere in data centres that run continuously, consuming vast amounts of electricity and water, and built from hardware that depends on the extraction and energy-intensive processing of finite rare-earth minerals.

Our collective digital activity is accelerating faster than ever. Each new platform, app and service adds to that momentum, increasing the energy and materials required to keep the digital world running.

AI and the growing demand for energy

Recent advances in generative AI technologies add to that trajectory. AI brings enormous potential to improve efficiency and transform how we teach, research and support students. It also introduces new layers of energy and hardware demand.

Training and running large models relies on highly specialised infrastructure that draws far more power than conventional computing. The International Energy Agency forecasts that AI-optimised servers will grow by around 30% a year to 2030 – a remarkable pace that underscores a challenge for every organisation: our digital ambitions are expanding much faster than our efficiency gains.

For me, this isn’t about slowing innovation; it’s about innovating responsibly. By embedding sustainable design, procurement and data-management practices into our work, and by educating ourselves and others about our practices, we can get more from technology while keeping both financial and environmental costs in check.

Small changes, big results

That’s the focus of the driving digital sustainability workshop: exploring where digital strategy and sustainability intersect, and how practical, evidence-based actions deliver benefits on multiple fronts. Participants use collaborative exercises and take-home tools to identify which interventions will have the greatest impact in their own organisations.

People are often surprised at how small shifts add up. Reviewing data-retention policies, choosing energy-efficient hosting, or extending the lifespan of end-user devices can all reduce emissions and operating costs. Improving e-waste management or engaging suppliers on their sustainability practices delivers similar dual benefits.

Asking the right questions

Encouragingly, many institutions are already asking the right questions:

• How long do we retain data?
• What digital behaviours drive unnecessary energy use or storage growth?
• Do our procurement frameworks consider energy efficiency, durability and repairability?

Looking beyond the obvious sources of emissions to tackle these often-hidden digital impacts is where real, meaningful progress begins.

Shaping a sustainable digital culture

Digital sustainability isn’t just about reducing emissions; it’s about building a culture of thoughtful, informed decision-making around technology. In colleges and universities, that matters on more than one level. These institutions don’t just operate digital systems, they shape the digital literacy, values and expectations of future generations.

By embedding sustainable thinking into how we design, procure and use technology, the sector can lead by example, showing that innovation and responsibility can go hand in hand.

You can find out more about the driving digital sustainability workshops coming this January 2026 via our training pages.