"Most people had no idea their old emails and unused apps were harming the environment," said Ruqaiya Shafiq, a 19-year-old volunteer from Manama. "Once we explained that the cloud is a physical place consuming electricity, people were completely on board and eager to start deleting."
It was a reaction that was observed across the Middle East during the Digital Cleanup Campaign, where community members discovered that clearing digital clutter was not only good for organising their devices, but also for reducing their environmental footprint.
To mark World Environment Day, community members across seven cities (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Muscat, Bahrain, Kuwait) deleted unused data from personal and work devices.
Zubaida al-Busaidi, a mother of two from Oman, had filled her phone’s gallery with images bearing quotes and sundry topics that she did not need. Like many people, she postponed clearing them until the Dawoodi Bohra Digital Cleanup Campaign prompted her to do something.
Zubaida’s predicament has been a very common phenomenon known as digital hoarding, defined by a study as the accumulation of digital files to the point of loss of perspective. According to the same study, “while there is clearly no impact on physical living spaces, personal and professional life may still be affected by such behaviours”.
According to Dr Sanjay Saxena, a Boston-based psychiatrist, digital hoarding is estimated to affect about 3 - 5% of the global population.
Hoarding is considered to be related to obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a 2019 study that surveyed hundreds of adults in the UK found the behavior to be common in the workplace.
“I did not realise that there was an app in my phone that could simply merge or delete duplicate files. Before this, I felt the need to store everything thinking it could come handy sometime. Not anymore. Nothing is permanent, so why hold onto these things?” she said.
During the campaign, 560 participants deleted more than 15,000 GB of unnecessary data from their personal and work devices. Together, these efforts are estimated to prevent approximately 3.13 tonnes of CO₂ emissions each year.
Huzaifa Hakimi of Ajman freed up to 550 GBs of space in both his personal and office devices.
“I have become more conscious now. I used to pay regular monthly subscriptions to buy storage space on the cloud. When I audited my account, I realised I could save up to 70% space if I kept a habit of auditing. I have removed auto-pay for my cloud subscription,” he said.
The drive was organised under the banner of Project Rise, the Dawoodi Bohra community’s global philanthropic initiative, in partnership with the Estonia-based organisation, Let’s Do It World (LDIW). According to LDIW, storing a single gigabyte of unnecessary data generates about 200 grams of CO₂ every year.
Participants deleted old emails, cleared duplicate photos, cancelled dormant subscriptions, audited cloud storage, and emptied digital trash folders. Beyond freeing storage space, the campaign also raised awareness about the environmental impact of digital clutter and the energy required to store unnecessary data.
In Bahrain, young volunteers set up a kiosk at their local community centre where residents could bring their phones and laptops for hands-on assistance clearing unnecessary files.
"Most people had no idea their old emails and unused apps are harming the environment," said Ruqaiya Shafiq, a 19-year-old volunteer from Manama. "Once we explained that the cloud is a physical place consuming electricity, people were completely on board and eager to start deleting."
Volunteers also visited neighbourhood shops and small businesses in Manama, helping owners remove unnecessary digital files while encouraging friends, family members and business owners to adopt more sustainable digital habits.
The rapid proliferation of technological devices in recent years has placed a growing and often invisible burden on the environment. Through initiatives like the Digital Cleanup, Dawoodi Bohras reaffirm that their commitment to environmental stewardship extends to every dimension of modern life.
