The internets contribution to global warming
Has it ever crossed your mind that the internet contributes to global warming
From sending an email to watching YouTube, every action you take on the internet contributes to global warming.
In this article, we explore the ways in which internet usage contributes to global warming and steps that can be taken to reduce your personal or businesses' effect.
Websites and carbon emissions
Website data
Each time you visit a website, the data transfer from the internet to your device equates to an amount of C02 released into the atmosphere.
The "heavier" the website, the more C02 is released.
A "heavy" website is one which loads large, uncompressed images, videos and unoptimized, bulky code.
One page-view on our website equates to ~0.1g of C02. With the number of page views we receive, 1/10th of a tree is required to make our website carbon-neutral. A whole tree planted = a carbon negative website 😎
Website hosting
It is not only down to how much data the website loads which contributes to C02 emissions - the hosting infrastructure also plays a part.
If the hosting service is not utilising green energy sources, the negative impact of the website on the environment will be greater.
What we're doing
We recently redeveloped our own website to be much lighter. It is now ~90% lighter, greener and faster than all websites on the internet. Our site is also ~91% greener than other media agency websites which are based in Liverpool.
With future web design and development projects, we're aiming to build sites which are as environmentally friendly as possible and aim to achieve at least 80% "greener" results than the global average.
We'll be planting two trees to allow our site traffic to grow over 10x and still be a carbon-negative website.
What does this mean for you?
Browsing our website is ~90% friendlier for the environment than the average of media agencies in Liverpool.
One of the worst performing websites in Liverpool produces a whopping 8.55g of C02 per page view 🤢. As a comparison, our website releases 1.17% C02 compared to this competitor.
If you're looking to have a website developed or redesigned, you will receive a lightweight website, which means you can keep a clear conscience that your online presence is making as small of an impact to the environment as possible.
As your website will be lightweight, it'll also load super fast, keeping your end-users and/or customers happy. A win-win-win. (A win for us producing content which is green, a win for you having a fast, green website and a win for your customers).