Better for The Planet Web Hosting

Many web hosting companies today are offering green web hosting, with the definition of such being varied from company to company. With more public demand for companies to be green, every web hosts wants to say that they are greener than their competition in order to win eco concious business support.

Green Web Hosting

Green web hosting on it’s own can range from barely countable as “green” to the hosting provider making steps towards changing how they carry out their business in order to be better for the planet.

On the bottom end of the spectrum, this can be achieved from many large provider’s marketing budgets. This involves producing a rough estimate of the CO₂ which the web servers produce based on their country’s typical fuel mix. From this, it’s possible to cheaply buy “carbon credits” and mark it as a job well done. Carbon credits, while they can make a difference in the world, can also be over exaggerated in terms of their effects. Hopefully Carbon credits will improve over time, with more providers choosing to opt for audited and trackable methods of ensuring their credits actually reduce as much carbon as they say they do.

More options include investing in ensuring the data centres involves are powered entirely using green energy. This works in a similar way to how you can buy “green energy” for your home where the company promises to match the amount of energy your home uses with the same amount generated by green methods and put into the grid (you can’t ensure the exact electricity generated will go to where it’s being paid for using our power grids). This is also, sadly, flawed in the energy is only matched in total rather than being a constant. For example during peak demand, and times where the wind isn’t as strong or it’s incredibly cloudly, non-renewable sources of energy are needed to meet our needs, unless you live off the grid.

On top of the renewable energy approach, ensuring the servers are running as effectiently as possible with looking to use new more effecient technology such as Gallium Nitrate based power supplies. A way to measure this is “Power Usage Effectiveness” where a lower number is better.

Other Business Stuff

Like all companies, hosting companies also have the usual other departments such as HR, customer support and sales, all of which can also be affected. By putting policies in place to reduce the amount of paper required and giving staff options other than single person driving in a car to their offices this can make a significant impact.

The final option is to partner directly with companies who plant and track trees to ensure they grow correctly, the correct type of tree is grown in the first place and they will mature into a large forest someday. Planting trees hopefully will allow for carbon which inevitably gets produced by the hosting industry to be sucked back in by trees and into the ground.

Green and Invisible Dragon

The web hosting which Invisible Dragon uses is one of the greenest available in the UK, Krystal. All of our clients who host with us are also hosting with the same people, who are using green electricity, making their data centres as effecient as possible, planting trees and on top of that ensuring their workforce is as green as possible.

If you would like to also use the fantastic hosting we do, use coupon code feef54de at checkout for £10 account credit. Check them out for more information.

We’re here to help if hosting and managing your website can be too much to handle. Contact us to see how we can help.

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