Data storage needs energy: the more data you store, the higher your emissions.

• Do you need copies or even copies of
  copies of files, or do you need to send as
  many email attachments?
•  Speak to your server providers to find
  out how they sustainably consume and
  store data. Ask three questions of them:
  • What’s the carbon footprint of our
    cloud computing deployment?
  • Are there regions or data centres I
    can use that are more sustainable than
    others?
  • How can I improve the energy
    efficiency of my cloud deployment?
• Find savings in your cloud costs; the
  more you spend with your cloud
  provider, the higher your emissions are
  likely to be.
• Can you use the latest compression
  standard for your storage/ back-up and
  choose energy efficient storage media?
• Make sure that you have a
  consolidated and central data storage
  process, rather than have the same files
  or assets saved per-team or individual.
• Make sure that your server is actually
  delivering needed and valuable
  computing or data storage – you can
  read an interesting case study here:
  Comatose-Servers-Redux-2017.pdf (anthesisgroup.com)

This use case was extracted from the GreenGamesGuide (by Ukie)