Web hosting can present an easy way to go green, if you’re willing to do a bit of legwork and research on the options available. Many website owners don’t realize the amount of energy a typical web host uses. But between security systems, servers, and the massive cooling needs of most data centers, web hosting is not an insignificant energy user.
But there are plenty of hosts out there who are making great strides in the direction of being green. This means there are lots of options for those looking to make their personal or business website more eco-friendly.
Levels of Green
Different hosts take more or less initiative when it comes to being green. Some might simply buy renewable energy credits from their local utility. Others buy carbon offsets to partially or fully offset the carbon dioxide emissions they’re responsible for. Some make sure the servers and equipment they’re using are the most energy-efficient models available.
But some hosts go quite a bit further. There’s a data center in Washington state that uses outside air almost year round to cool their equipment, rather than traditional air conditioning units. Other hosts produce their own power via renewable methods (like solar or wind) or purchase solar and wind power from their utilities. Using energy-efficient servers and backup systems are also important, as these can have a major impact on how much energy is used overall. Some of the most energy-efficient servers use up to forty percent less energy than traditional servers.
Some hosts may have additional environmental initiatives, such as supporting local, national, and global environmental charities, or participating in tree-planting or other environmental campaigns. These efforts are not insignificant, but beware of hosts who use these as their only activities to back up their claim of being environmentally responsible.
The greenest web hosts will be doing a combination of the above. They generally use solar or wind power to run their data centers (usually with the grid serving as a backup system), sometimes even producing more power than they use and feeding the excess back into the grid. They have energy-efficient servers. They’re located in areas where air conditioning isn’t necessary year-round and use outside air for at least some of their cooling needs. Many also offset carbon emissions for activities not directly related to energy production (such as new equipment, employee travel, and even commuting). Recycling programs should also be in place, both for outdated electronics and for general office waste. Some hosts are even going so far as to have paper-free offices, telecommuting employees, and incentives for employees to make their own lives greener.
Reasons to Go Green
There are a number of reasons you might want to go with a green web host for your hosting needs. First of all, green and eco-friendly businesses are very popular with consumers right now. Whether you have a “green” business or not, being able to say that you’re doing your part to make more eco-friendly business decisions can go a long way with certain customers.
There are the obvious benefits to the planet, of course. Green hosts use less power, create less waste, and contribute less to a variety of environmental problems than their traditional counterparts. Running a single medium-sized web server can emit as much CO2 as an SUV that gets 15mpg in one year. Considering the thousands of data centers and servers located around the world, that’s a lot of CO2. Plus, the waste created when servers and other equipment are upgraded can cause a huge number of environmental problems if the old equipment isn’t disposed of (and recycled) properly. Computer parts can have significant amounts of some heavy metals (like copper and lead) as well as large amounts of plastics and other non-biodegradable elements.
What to Look For
Some hosts will use vague language to try to make themselves look greener than they actually are. If you’re not happy with the information provided on their website, there’s nothing wrong with calling and asking for more specific information on their eco-efforts. Here are a few things you may want to look for or ask about:
- Do they use energy efficient servers?
- Are they carbon neutral?
- Do they produce their own electricity?
- Do they buy green energy through their local utility?
- Do they have any employee incentives for living greener?
- Do they have an office recycling program?
- Have they won any green hosting awards?
- Do you use carbon credits or offsets for some or all of your emissions?
- Do you use carbon credits or offsets instead of or in addition to using green energy sources?
- Do you let employees telecommute or offer incentives to them to carpool?
- Do you try to minimize the use of paper in your offices?
While there are very few hosts out there who can meet all of the guidelines above, they are becoming more common. And the more consumers who demand green initiatives by their hosting companies, the more companies will adopt them.
Other Green Steps Hosts Can (and Do) Take
Some web hosts are opting to make small steps to become greener if they don’t have the funds or otherwise can’t make huge changes to their businesses. Things like changing the layout of a server room can make a difference in energy usage and cooling needs. Consolidating sites onto fewer servers can also help, as it lets some servers be shut down all together (just beware of companies that are overloading their servers at the expense of speed and stability). In many cases it’s possible to retrofit a building to use outside air for cooling rather than air conditioning.
Simple things like using less paper and encouraging employees to carpool or telecommute can also have a big impact. Letting each employee telecommute just one day each week can mean emissions from commuting are cut by 20%. Carpooling can have an even bigger impact. Going completely digital for interoffice communication and even customer communications can have a huge impact on the amount of waste the company generates, too.
If you’re not ready to make the switch to a completely green host, or if you just can’t find one that meets your specific needs, talk to your current host about making some smaller changes to the way they’re currently doing business. Many are already aware of the need to make their businesses greener, and are just unsure of what they can do without a major overhaul. Give them suggestions they can act upon immediately and you might be surprised at how open they are to making those small changes.
