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Climate-Friendly Work and Study

Guidelines for Sustainable IT

Digitization of Documents in Teaching and Administration

Digitization in teaching and administration, as well as the digital processing of documents, reduces emissions by lowering the need for paper.

If you do need to print, please print on both sides whenever possible. Here you will find the guide on how to set double-sided printing as the default setting.

Digital Meetings in Teaching, Research, and Administration

Digital meetings reduce emissions related to travel.

Please always consider whether a trip or even the occasional drive to campus can be avoided by holding a digital meeting instead.

Saving server space and thereby saving electricity for cooling

The continuous cooling of the University of Potsdam’s servers consumes a great deal of electricity and therefore generates a significant amount of CO2 emissions. The demand for additional server space can be reduced by deleting data that is no longer needed, which can lead to emissions savings. Courses on the Moodle.UP platform are now automatically deleted after 3.5 years and a backup, freeing up a significant amount of server space. To further reduce emissions, please also delete files or emails no longer needed on the Box.UP and Mail.UP services regularly every 1–3 months. To clean up Box.UP, it can be very helpful to first mount the service on your local file system (guide here). Please feel free to direct any technical questions regarding this to the ZIM.

Programs that can be helpful when analyzing local data from, for example, Box:

Energy-Efficient Operation of (IT) Devices

Proper operation can save electricity and extend the lifespan of your devices. Please note the following:

  • Use power strips with a switch between your devices (PC, laptop, monitor, and especially printers) and the power outlet.
  • Turn off or shut down all devices and power strips at the end of the workday if none of them are involved in necessary processes. This also ensures that necessary updates are installed on PCs and laptops.
  • Charge battery-powered devices correctly: from 20% to a maximum of 80% charge level. If possible, do not use the device while it is charging.

PC & Laptop

  • Unplug any peripheral devices connected to the computer when they are not in use (external hard drive, USB flash drive, printer, etc.).
  • Regularly check CPU usage via the Task Manager; if usage is high, identify and close processes that are not necessary.
  • Delete programs that are no longer needed.
  • If you use a laptop as a work device that you rarely move, remove the battery and charge it only once every 3 months.
  • Many manufacturers offer BIOS settings or utilities to extend battery life. Search the BIOS for terms such as “Advanced Battery Charge Time” and adjust the settings. Use software programs like Dell Power Manager and configure the desired settings.

Monitor

  • Turn off the screen saver
  • Reduce screen brightness (60%)
  • Set the monitor to standby (Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options\Edit plan settings -> “Turn off the display” and “Put the computer to sleep after”).

Printers & Copiers

  • Enable power-saving mode on printers & copiers, if available
  • Print documents double-sided

Other

  • Reduce the phone’s screen brightness (guide)
  • Use sustainable search engines (e.g., www.ecosia.org: 80% of profits fund tree planting)
  • Avoid unnecessary videos & streaming
  • Avoid sending photos via email whenever possible
  • Turn off the camera during Zoom conferences when it is not needed.

Guidelines for Waste Disposal

Waste is sorted by providing appropriate sorting systems and by informing and encouraging all waste generators to use these systems properly (e.g., using the waste sorting guide).

  • Employee offices are equipped with wastebaskets for paper waste. If you still have a general waste bin with a plastic bag, we ask that you designate it as a paper waste bin in the interest of waste separation. Simply remove the plastic bag and order a sticker (greenofficeuni-potsdamde) to show the cleaning staff that it is now a paper waste bin intended exclusively for paper. Thank you very much!
  • General waste and, in some places, packaging waste can be disposed of in the kitchenettes. In some buildings, there are recycling bins in the hallways for paper, packaging, and general waste.
  • Battery collection bins are located in the entrance areas of every building. Glass and pens (ballpoint pens & markers) can be recycled at various locations on campus: Overview for Golm, Neues Palais, Griebnitzsee.
  • Members of the University of Potsdam have the option of dropping off hazardous waste weekly at the central chemical storage facility (more information here).
  • There is an internal recycling exchange for office furniture, toner cartridges, and printer modules.
  • (Hazardous) waste balances, trends in hazardous waste generation, and hazardous materials reports can be found in the respective environmental reports or waste statistics.

Paper Towels in General Waste

Used disposable paper towels do not belong in the blue paper recycling bin for both technical and hygienic reasons. Hygiene paper is treated with a “wet-strength” finish, which significantly delays its decomposition. This makes hygiene paper unsuitable for paper recycling. Only unused paper towels without special coatings are disposed of as waste paper. After use and contamination with soap, water, natural cleaning agents, and beverage residues, paper towels must be disposed of as general waste. As soon as chemicals are wiped up in laboratories, they are classified as hazardous waste.