More than 174 individuals in Bahrain benefited from a digital decluttering initiative, highlighting the negative impact of unwanted data on the environment and our gadgets.
The campaign marked World Environment Day, which is annually celebrated on June 5, and was part of a wider event staged by the Middle East Dawoodi Bohra community.
The 10-day programme, leading up to the global observance, engaged more than 560 participants across seven cities in four countries and resulted in 15,685 gigabytes of data being deleted from personal and work devices. The freed storage is estimated to prevent approximately 3.13 tonnes of CO₂ emissions every year.
Bahrain’s Dawoodi Bohra community champions, led by eco-warrior Arwa Sitabkhan, joined the event alongside counterparts in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman in the UAE, as well as Muscat and Kuwait.
It was organised by Project Rise, the Dawoodi Bohra community’s global philanthropic initiative, in partnership with the Estonia-based Let’s Do It World (LDIW).
“We received a good response and have been able to help so many people,” Ms Sitabkhan told the GDN.
“As I cleaned people’s caches, their phones started working faster. Just one simple Facebook application has a cache of around two to five gigabytes. Imagine how much pressure this puts on the environment – and your phone – cleaning up space also helps to increase the longevity of our devices. People end up buying additional Gmail storage but all we need to do is delete unwanted data,” she added.
The drive invited participants to complete one practical task each day over 10 days. These tasks ranged from deleting old emails and clearing duplicate photos in the opening days to cancelling dormant subscriptions, auditing cloud storage, and emptying digital trash folders by the end of the campaign.
In Bahrain, young volunteers set up a kiosk at their local community centre located near Andalus Garden where residents could bring their phones and laptops to receive hands-on help clearing unnecessary data. Teams also visited neighbourhood shops and small businesses in Manama to declutter unwanted data, and encouraged friends and family members to adopt sustainable digital habits.
“Most people had no idea their old emails and unused apps were actually harming the environment. Once we explained that the cloud is a physical place consuming electricity, they were completely on board and eager to start deleting,” said 19-year-old volunteer Ruqaiya Shafiq, who helped run the Manama kiosk.
Ms Sitabkhan noted that whenever we download a file or image, there are servers that make it happen and these run on electricity, causing carbon emissions. According to LDIW, storing 1GB of unwanted data typically generates about 200gm carbon dioxide every year.
The 38-year-old information technology professional has always been passionate about the subject and decided it would be a good idea to get the public at large involved closer to World Environment Day. This year’s theme ‘Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future’, focuses on urgent climate action.
Latest reports indicate that the global digital sector emits between three and four per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions – as much CO2 as civil aviation.
According to the most recent full-year estimate by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), the world’s data centres consumed as much as 500 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2023. That total, which was more than double the annual levels from 2015 to 19, could triple to 1,500TWh by 2030, as projected by Opec, signalling an urgent need to be mindful of the digital carbon footprint.
Bahrain has been committed to sustainable development and digital transformation, and aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2035 and achieve ‘Net Zero’ by 2060.
The kingdom is embracing energy-efficient digitalisation, in keeping with Bahrain’s Vision 2030, through several initiatives, including smart city technologies, green data centres powered by renewable energy and sustainable e-government services. Furthermore, Bahrain is exploring the integration of renewable energy sources, such as solar power, into its digital infrastructure.
Additionally, the kingdom’s Telecommunications, ICT, and Digital Economy Strategy (2022 to 2026) emphasises the development of a world-class digital infrastructure, including the adoption of green technologies and practices. This strategy aims to enhance the efficiency of government, while also promoting public-private partnerships to support sustainable development.
Moreover, the early adoption of cloud computing has allowed Bahrain to achieve a carbon emission saving of 81.903m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent compared to running data centres locally between February 2022 and December 2024.
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