In 2021, some research was done on the The Carbon Footprint Of The Internet which found the internet generates around 3.7% of carbon emissions (similar to the airline industry).
The drive behind digital green tech, particularly around digital assets like websites and applications, has gained momentum but still only has limited options.
Host servers (where your website lives) are usually in warehouses with thousands of computers powered by, often, coal-based electricity. Plus, even if your hosting provider is an Australian company, the actual servers they use are likely based somewhere else (many are in the US and Europe). Not the end of the world, but could always be better.
The alternative: Switching to local green hosts powered by renewable energy. The Green Web Foundation lists several by location around the world – there is a small list of Australian options, but there may be others that aren’t on this particular list (I mentioned it to my hosts Serversaurus, and they’ve since applied and been listed as they weren’t aware the foundation existed!).
This might be a new concept – it’s effectively reducing the “weight” of a website by applying thoughtful constraints.
For example, reducing or removing the use of videos and large photos, using only critical chunks of code, limiting the use of fonts and even minimising the colour palette to lighten the load on your monitor, which often also has accessibility benefits.
European brand Organic Basics demonstrate this on their low-impact website – they give users the option to switch between the full site or the low-impact version (our website is also inspired by this concept, still a work in progress…)
Only scratching the surface here – a small handful of opportunities to make progress towards your sustainability goals.
If you’re interested, you can measure the impact of your website using the Website Carbon Calculator, and perhaps be slightly staggered at how that little site can make such a dent.
For self-employed creatives, normal business traps are easy to fall into and overcomplicate things - but they’re totally avoidable when flying solo.
Learn how to keep things simple, enjoyable, and climate-smart in around 2 minutes a day by joining The Climate Soloist.