Green Web Hosting: A Sustainable Solution That Doesn’t Hurt the Environment

Key highlights

• Understand how green web hosting reduces environmental impact by using renewable energy and energy-efficient practices.
• Learn the importance of choosing eco-friendly hosting to lower your website’s carbon footprint and support sustainable energy.
• Explore the different types of green hosting certificates like renewable energy certificates and carbon offset credits.
• Discover the benefits of green web hosting for your business, including enhancing your brand’s reputation and attracting eco-conscious customers.
• Know how to verify if a hosting provider is truly green and how to start your sustainable web hosting journey with confidence.

The internet is a boon to humanity, but it’s taking its toll on the environment.

Every time you load a webpage, an average of 0.5 grams of carbon dioxide is emitted. Likewise, if you run a website with 10,000 monthly page views, you will emit approximately 132 pounds of carbon dioxide every year.

But how does that work?

Websites are hosted on web servers located in a data centre, which is a physical facility that houses servers and critical IT infrastructure. These data centres use electricity to operate. Around 60% of global electricity production comes from burning fossil fuels. These fossil fuels, in turn, produce greenhouse gasses — mainly carbon dioxide. Traditional energy production also depletes natural resources, while green web hosting helps conserve them. Improving energy efficiency in data centres can further reduce emissions and minimize environmental impact.

So, what can you do to reduce your website’s carbon footprint?

Green is one way to tackle the environmental issues posed by millions of websites hosted on the internet. In this article, we’ll see what green web hosting is and how it benefits the environment and your brand.

Green web hosting: What is it?

Green web hosting is a more sustainable and eco-friendly way of hosting compared to traditional web hosting. A green web hosting service takes a comprehensive approach to sustainability, ensuring that the entire service offering is designed to reduce environmental impact. Many providers also make the company’s commitment to environmental responsibility a core value and operational philosophy, setting them apart from traditional hosts. Essentially, it tries to minimize the impact of web hosting on the environment by reducing the carbon emissions created by the web host’s data centers. A hosting platform can be built with sustainability in mind, utilizing energy-efficient infrastructure and environmentally responsible technologies.

To ensure you are choosing a truly eco-friendly option, look for verified green hosting providers by checking for official green certifications and using directories or tools that list such providers.

Green hosting applies various strategies to accomplish this, such as using renewable energy sources, reducing energy usage, implementing green practices like efficient cooling systems and sustainable operations, and compensating for carbon footprint.

Green web hosting: Why is it important?

While 0.5 grams of carbon dioxide emitted per page load doesn’t seem like much, it makes a difference when you consider the browsing volume.

According to Statista, 64.6% of the world’s population uses the internet, approximately 5.19 billion people. To cater to this huge customer base, thousands of data centres operate around the globe.

For reference, there are 5,375 data centres in the U.S. alone.

In addition to data centres, the internet also needs network infrastructure and end devices like laptops and mobiles. According to a study by Huawei, electricity used by these devices could collectively contribute 23% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

So, web hosting companies should proactively reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint to ensure that their websites don’t continue to damage the environment. Ongoing sustainability efforts, such as improving energy efficiency and adopting renewable energy in data centres, are essential to minimize environmental impact.

Green web hosting: How does it work?

A company’s commitment to environmental sustainability is the driving force behind green hosting practices. Green web hosting companies are aware of the impact of web hosting on the planet. They use various sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint. These methods include maintaining high server performance while implementing eco-friendly measures, ensuring that customers receive reliable hosting services without compromising on environmental responsibility. Customers can choose from a variety of green web hosting offers, including shared hosting plans and VPS hosting, which incorporate renewable energy sourcing and energy offset programs. Additionally, a knowledgeable support team is essential in green hosting companies to assist customers and uphold high standards of service. These methods include:

Using renewable energy sources

Many eco-friendly hosting companies use power generated by renewable energy sources like solar and wind energy to run their web servers and network infrastructure. Some green web hosting providers generate energy on-site using renewable sources, helping to offset their overall energy consumption. Solar and wind power are key renewable sources used by these hosts to reduce their carbon footprint and promote environmental responsibility.

Minimizing energy consumption

Green web hosting companies are mindful of their energy consumption and try to save as much electricity as possible.

For example, McKinsey estimates that 40% of data center electricity usage comes from cooling systems. So, green hosting companies invest in efficient cooling systems that help make their web servers and network infrastructure more energy-efficient. By focusing on energy efficient data centres, these companies significantly reduce environmental impact while maintaining high operational standards.

Green web hosts also find innovative ways to save power. Take Bluehost, which saves energy by using outdoor air to cool its data centers.

Promoting an environmentally friendly business culture

Green hosting providers often follow sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint. These practices include urging employees to use eco-friendly commute methods, conducting recycling drives and reducing the use of single-use plastic on company premises. Additionally, many green hosting providers work to make their supply chain more sustainable by recycling and reusing components wherever possible.

Compensating for carbon emissions

Green web hosting providers might not be able to eliminate their carbon footprint entirely, but they do try to compensate for it. For instance, many of them invest in projects that aim to reduce carbon emissions. These providers often purchase carbon offset certificates, which verify and support their efforts to offset emissions through renewable energy and recycling initiatives.

Giving green power back to the energy grid

Some green hosting service providers might still need to use power from non-renewable energy sources that end up emitting carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. However, they compensate for their energy consumption by purchasing an equal amount of energy generated by a renewable source and giving it back to the energy grid.

They do this by buying certificates. One common approach is to purchase green tags, which are certified green energy credits from suppliers. By purchasing green tags, companies can offset their energy consumption and demonstrate a commitment to renewable energy, even if they do not generate renewable power themselves. We’ll take a closer look at the different types of certificates in the next section.

Green web hosting: Types of certificates

Not all web hosting companies generate power from sustainable sources like wind or solar power. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be green web hosting services. Hosting companies can buy certificates that ensure they give clean energy back to the power grid and compensate for their carbon footprint. These certificates are directly linked to the production and usage of renewable green energy, supporting environmentally responsible web hosting practices.

Let’s look at the major types of green web hosting certificates:

Renewable energy certificates

A green web hosting company calculates its total energy consumption and purchases renewable energy certificates that allow it to replenish the energy grid with the same amount of energy it uses. These certificates are also known as renewable energy credits (RECs) in some regions, as well as green tags or tradable renewable certificates.

When a company purchases one green tag, it essentially buys one megawatt-hour of electricity generated by a renewable energy source. Web hosting companies can buy a green tag from any of the green energy suppliers.

Carbon offset credits

Carbon offsetting is the process of compensating for one’s carbon footprint. Web hosting companies can acquire carbon credits to offset their carbon emissions.

There are two main ways to get carbon offset credits:

• Direct investment: A green hosting website may directly invest in initiatives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Examples of carbon offset projects are forest restorations, recycling projects and sustainable waste management projects.
• Purchase credits: The hosting company can purchase carbon credits directly from a retailer or a broker. Green web hosting providers often buy carbon credits equivalent to their carbon footprint.

Now that you know how green web hosting works, let’s explore the advantages of choosing a green web hosting provider.

Green web hosting: Benefits

Green web hosting is increasing in popularity among hosting service providers and business owners. By hosting websites with a green web host, individuals and companies can significantly reduce their environmental impact through energy-efficient solutions and sustainable practices.

Many green web hosting providers offer competitive pricing, making eco-friendly hosting affordable and sometimes even more economical than traditional hosting due to energy efficiency and lower operational costs.

While providing all the features of traditional web hosting plans, green hosting has some additional advantages that we’ll explore below. For eco-conscious customers, choosing a green hosting account not only supports renewable energy but also demonstrates a commitment to sustainability. Setting up a new hosting account with a green web host is a quick and easy step toward starting your sustainable web hosting journey, with many providers offering helpful customer support during the process.

Environmentally friendly

The number of internet users and websites is rapidly increasing, and web hosting companies need to ensure their actions don’t threaten our planet’s ecosystem. Green web hosting minimizes the environmental impact of running data centers and network infrastructure by using renewable energy sources and investing in sustainability projects.

Promotes sustainable energy sources

Less than 15% of global energy is generated from sustainable energy sources like wind power. Green website hosting companies either use renewable energy sources or buy green tags equivalent to their energy consumption. By using clean energy or purchasing green tags, green hosting companies promote the use of renewable energy sources, which indirectly helps tackle climate change.

Good for your business profile

According to a customer interview conducted by IBM and the National Retail Federation, 66% of purpose-driven customers prefer sustainable products. Choosing a green hosting partner is a great way to start a sustainable business. The green label on your website will attract customers who want to choose environmentally responsible companies.

Final thoughts

Green web hosting tries to protect the environment by reducing the hosting provider’s carbon footprint. Green web hosts offer hosting packages identical to traditional hosting companies but with the added advantage of being environmentally friendly.

There are many advantages to choosing a green web hosting provider. Not only does it allow you to run your website without harming nature, but going green is a great way to impress customers who are aware of the environmental impact of the internet.

In addition to looking for a green hosting provider, make sure you choose a provider that offers reliable support, uptime and malware scanning.

At Bluehost, we have WordPress hosting plans with a variety of features, including a free CDN and SSL, daily website backups for the first year and custom themes.

Contact Bluehost today to learn more about our plan options.

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