“What is a Low Carbon Website anyway, and why should I care how green my website is?”
Essentially, a Low Carbon Website is one that:
Uses fewer resources to run, has a smaller environmental impact, and contributes less to global warming
Why should you care?
If you own a website or are thinking of creating one, you should be mindful about its ecological impact and carbon footprint. Your website is part of your overall Digital Carbon Footprint, and Digital is one of the main contributors to your overall carbon footprint.
The average website produces as much as 1.76g of CO2 per page view. An average website with 10,000 page views per month could generate 211kg of CO2 per year, which is the same as would be absorbed by 105 trees in a year. The average web page size has increased dramatically over the past 10 years, from 810kb to 2.28MB.
Source: Root Web Design Studio
However, looking on the bright side, those emissions can be understood, measured and reduced, benefitting both the planet and your bottom line. There are several compelling business cases for having a Low Carbon Website that’s Green Hosted, and, moreover, an ethics-focused business.
In a recent Nielsen study, 3/4 of Gen Z consumers stated that sustainability is more important to them than brand names. And, 66% of consumers are willing to pay more for products and services from companies that are committed to making a positive social & environmental impact. 81% of global consumers feel strongly that companies should help improve the environment.
Businesses and organisations that commit to a low-carbon digital strategy are putting themselves front of mind with ‘conscious consumers’, a group that’s only going to continue to increase over the next 5 to 10 years.
Customers, clients, stakeholders and employees expect more sustainable actions and social proof from businesses and organisations.
The same is true for investors. They want to invest in future-proofed and innovative businesses that are adapting to what the market demands, and ultimately, what the planet needs.
Getting Accredited
You should also be especially mindful of your website’s ecological impact and carbon footprint when you’re going for accreditation, such as that offered by The Good Business Charter. It makes good sense to get your website audited (and optimised) before going through the application process for accreditation, as your website and overall Digital Carbon Footprint will be taken into consideration.
Sustainability is now a mainstream concept
Consumers, citizens and activists have turned sustainability into a mainstream concept that is able to ruin a business or organisation’s reputation and profits if concerns about environmental impact, business ethics and behaviour are not addressed.
Knowing your carbon footprint and reducing it could give you a competitive advantage
Knowing your carbon footprint and reducing it could give you a competitive advantage over other businesses. Clients, customers and consumers care about your business’ sustainability credentials, including the carbon footprint of your business activities, products and services. As a matter of fact, conscious clients, customers and consumers are attracted to and actually pay more for lower impact products and services.
Evidently, adopting net zero strategies helps your business grow, save money, and boost business resilience. By becoming carbon neutral or carbon positive, business is closing the gap between government commitments and the 1.5 degree target, enabling you to:
- Increase revenue (by differentiating yourself in the market and charging more)
- Reduce costs (by changing behaviour on high emission activities)
- Engage stakeholders (attract, retain and motivate employees and staff; and attract investment)
- Mitigate risks (reduce the risk of possible future regulation that taxes carbon consumption)
- Gain accreditation (to reflect your values and ethics and best practice, enhance your reputation, and provide confidence to customers and stakeholders)
Basically, environmental responsibility benefits your bottom line.The economy of the future is low carbon, and companies that prepare for that future now will quickly gain a competitive advantage.
Net Zero and Carbon Reduction Plans
Emphatically, firms must commit to net zero to win major government contracts. They must also publish clear and credible carbon reduction plans before they can even bid for major government contracts.
A carbon reduction plan not only sets out where an organisation’s emissions come from, but also the specific environmental management measures that they have in place. The Plan must show the actions you have taken, and are taking now and going forwards, within your business to reduce your carbon intensity.
The new rules drive forward the green agenda, while also striking a balance to not overly burden and potentially exclude small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) from bidding for government work.
2025, Carbon Reduction Plans and Supply Chains
From 2025 onwards, you must now have a Carbon Reduction plan in place if you want to work with larger companies as part of their supply chain, too.
Now, you can no longer rely on Carbon Offsetting to claim Carbon Neutrality. And, there are changes to advertising standards around the terms carbon neutral and eco-friendly too to avoid greenwashing.
SMEs and Carbon Emissions
Small and medium-sized enterprises account for 99.9% of the business population in the UK. So, you have a vital role to play. Basically, even the smallest organisations, businesses and solo-preneurs have a significant carbon footprint. Through your premises. The vehicles you use. Your supply chain, too. Even your use of social media, email and especially your website.
Have you considered what it takes for a simple website visit?
Have you ever considered what it takes for a simple website visit? Basically, there’s the power required on the end user’s device… The communication networks… The data centres where a website is hosted, and the storage of the website on a server… Obviously, the resources needed to accomplish a simple website visit quickly start to add up.
The biggest factors in a high-carbon website are large file types, slow load times, and unnecessary click-throughs.
The more energy a server uses so that your website can deliver information to a user, the bigger the impact on emissions and the environment.
Low-carbon websites
Low-carbon web design and development acknowledges the impact of a website on the environment, and aims to reduce this by limiting the amount of energy required to run a website.
Essentially, lowering the carbon emissions associated with a website boils down to reducing or minimising the amount of electricity being used to load, send, and view a web page, and ensuring that the resulting electricity required to do that is from clean, renewable resources – ie. green hosting.
The benefits of a low-carbon website
Low-carbon websites are leaner, cleaner and greener.
As well as being great for lowering your environmental impact they’re also great for your business or organisation too.
Win more business and investment
Firstly, they increase brand loyalty and help to attract new customers, clients and employees.
Consumers are becoming increasingly purpose-driven and want to work with brands that align with their values.
Businesses and organisations that commit to a low-carbon digital strategy are putting themselves front of mind with ‘conscious consumers’. Evidently, a segment that’s only going to continue to increase over the next 5 to 10 years.
Customers and employees expect more sustainable actions from the brands they want to support.
The same is true for investors. Emphatically, they want to invest in future-proofed and innovative businesses that are adapting to what the market demands, and ultimately, what the planet needs.
UX and accessibility
Secondly, they’re a win-win for UX.
Low-carbon websites and green digital platforms often go hand in hand with accessibility. Halving the steps in a user journey will lessen the carbon footprint, while also improving the user experience of your product or service. Basically, as UX experts already know, quicker and simpler user journeys with faster loading speeds improve conversions and are key to success.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Lastly, they’re great for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) too.
Search Engines love low-carbon websites. Why? Because they help website users like you search for and find what you’re looking for as quickly as possible.
What’s efficient for you (ie. not having to visit irrelevant pages or wait for slow-to-load web pages) is also more efficient energy-wise. Because fewer server requests are made and less battery is used on your device, energy and associated emissions are saved.
Search engines compete to provide us (impatient) humans with the best search results and experience, so they boost higher quality and more energy-efficient websites to the top of their rankings.
In her web article for Consider Digital, Claire Knights outlined four key ways effective SEO can reduce your website’s carbon footprint. Particularly, good SEO saves energy by:
- Targeting the right audience
- Using the latest technology
- Cutting out poor-quality content
- Making online journeys shorter (ie. getting users to they information they want more quickly and efficiently)
Not only will you benefit from higher search rankings (and consistently attract a more highly motivated audience) you’ll also reduce your website’s environmental impact too.
So, to sum up, a low-carbon website uses fewer resources to run, has a smaller environmental impact, and contributes less to overall global warming.
A low-carbon website helps reduce your total carbon footprint and your costs too. Plus, emphatically showing customers, stakeholders and potential investors that you’re committed to carbon reduction.
Website Carbon Reduction Auditing
I’ll work with you to audit your existing website, whether you’re a charity / CIC, or business / organisation.
Looking at your website and overall digital carbon footprint is a great first step in reducing your carbon emissions and starting your Carbon Reduction Plan.
Book your website audit now.
